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C# Fiction > General C# Fiction
The Babylon Project
Aloriel:
And so it begins...
It was the Earth year 2156. With the creation of the first crewed planetary survey vessels, it was the beginning of a new age for humanity. One where we could finally reach for the stars and discover what wonders and dangers they might hold. Under the leadership of the President of EarthGov, Earthforce has been commissioned and ordered to explore. This is our story.
Rules
4 major alien powers (NPRs) have been created: Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and Dilgar
The Minbari are significantly ahead of the others
Each race should have approximately the weaponry expected, except the Dilgar who were already wiped out in the show so we have no idea (I set them to random!). Shields are used to represent defense grids from the show.
Humans start with virtually no tech (20,000 instant tech points) but 2000% of the minerals normally generated. I have never done a near zero tech start, so I am counter balancing it with extra minerals.
All post-start NPRs will be minors. Both major NPRs and players have a chance to create these minors. Minor races will be generated using images from the show (I have 13 images for these). I will SM them to their proper names when discovered. Unfortunately, flag selection is random and most of the members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds have no flags from the show. I will do my best with these. Potential minors include: Abbai, Brakiri, Drazi, Gaim, Grome, Hurr, Hyach, Llort, Markab, Onteen, Pak'ma'ra, Yolu, and Vree.
The Vorlons, Shadows, and other First Ones are replaced by Precursors. The standard Precursor image has been replaced by the Walkers of Sigma 957 image from the "Zog" scene.
Raiders will affect everyone as everyone experiences piracy. The standard raider image has been replaced by a Zephyr fighter (the triangular ones). They will begin to appear at the usual 10 discovered systems moment.
50% research speed
30% survey speed
NB: For story purposes, I will be replacing the name Sorium with Quantium-40 or Q-40 as that is what jump fuel was called in Babylon 5.
Ship design rules:
* Warships will use lasers and particle beams (eventually particle lances) as their primary weapons.
* Warships will be equipped with some level of troop transport capability to represent security forces stationed aboard
* Warships will have fighter bays
* Fighters will have rail guns to represent plasma bolts.
* Defensively, shields will be allowed but renamed to Defense Grid which will also be combined with gauss cannons for anti-missile defense.
* Other ships can have almost anything
* As soon as possible, Interplanetary Expeditions (IPX) survey ships will be fitted with ground forces storage for survey, xeno, and construction teams. This is to represent how IPX ships would land on planets and deploy teams.
* There must be at least starliner operating between all colony worlds and stations. Most likely, it will not even be moving people. This is just for RP reasons because starliners arrived all the time on the show.
At the start, there is only one ship design, the Sagan class survey vessel. 5 have been instant built. These are the only instant ships I will create.
--- Code: ---Carl Edward Sagan class Survey Vessel 3,000 tons 61 Crew 357.4 BP TCS 60 TH 63 EM 0
1041 km/s Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 HTK 20 Sensors 0/0/1/1 DCR 4-13 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.05 Years MSP 335 AFR 16% IFR 0.2% 1YR 4 5YR 64 Max Repair 100 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months Morale Check Required
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (1) Power 62.5 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 503,000 Litres Range 269.8 billion km (2999 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
These have been commissioned as the EAS Alíz Derekas, EAS Caroline Herschel, EAS William Wilson Morgan, EAS Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and the EAS Vesto Melvin Slipher.
EDIT: Adjusted fighters to have rail guns instead of gauss, as per recommendations. Also adjusted warships to not have rail guns, since no Earthforce ships had rail guns in the show's timeline.
EDIT2: Added a requirement of having starliners running between colonies (with or without moving passengers).
nuclearslurpee:
Looks cool, Babylon 5 is a classic and well-loved franchise so I am sure many will be happy to see this project.
One thing that could be a... concern?
--- Quote from: Aloriel on December 19, 2023, 03:39:17 PM ---* Fighters will have gauss cannons to represent plasma bolts
--- End quote ---
Mechanically, this is a really, really bad idea, because Gauss cannons on fighters are simply terrible. Without a turret mount, they offer no advantage over railguns while being much larger per shot (adjusted for the size/accuracy scaling) even with power plants taken into account, at least until ROF 8 tech which is endgame level. In other words, Gauss cannons have much worse expected damage than 10cm railguns until very high tech levels.
Since Steve always uses 10cm railguns to represent fighter weapons, such as WH40K lascannons, I would recommend doing the same unless you have a really good reason to want fighters heavily nerfed.
Aloriel:
In the first few months, Earthforce reported nothing of consequence save for minor mineral deposits on several comets and asteroids. Only the Jovian moon of Callisto had a deposit of any reasonable size with about 1.75 million of one of the new minerals we've dubbed Tritanium. Jupiter also shows some promise with roughly 500,000 Quantium-40 that may be able to be more easily refined into usable fuel if we had some sort of system to harvest it. Dr. Blaine Swiler has been assigned the task of creating such a device. Fortunately, there is still much to explore in the outer planets.
On the 26th of August 2156, Commander Abel Rastorfer, the captain of the EAS Alíz Derekas, reported that there was some sort of anomalous readings on gravitational sensors while in deep space near Mars's orbital path. These readings were sent back to Earth for analysis. After studying them, Dr. Alton Kuliga theorized that this must be a weak point between normal space and what a few scientists have been calling hyperspace. He says it might be possible to construct some sort of stabilization device and reach other solar systems at similar weak points. All of this is still only theoretical of course, but he is looking into it.
After reading about the anomalous discovery on the Derekas, Commander Zachery Kenon of the EAS Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar steered his ship to survey areas near Mars's orbital path as well. Just two weeks after the initial anomaly was discovered, another was found. Extra funding has been granted to Dr. Kuliga's efforts to research stabilization of these phenomenon.
All of this talk of Mars has created quite a furor among the populace of Earth. Long have people wanted to colonize Mars. Finally, we have the technology to do so, but no ships to move people or infrastructure for domes. After much deliberation, the EarthGov senate approved an appropriations bill on the 12th of October 2156 for the design and commissioning of a space borne transport capable of carrying material goods between planets, for both space liners and mass colonist transports, and for transportation of GROPOS forces to protect new colonies.
--- Code: ---Marco Polo class Transport 12,000 tons 70 Crew 210.8 BP TCS 240 TH 250 EM 0
1041 km/s Armour 1-46 Shields 0-0 HTK 32 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 10 Max Repair 20 MSP
Cargo 5,000 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (4) Power 250.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 711,000 Litres Range 95.3 billion km (1059 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Freighter for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
--- Code: ---Isaac Asimov class Spaceliner 6,500 tons 144 Crew 261.4 BP TCS 130 TH 125 EM 0
961 km/s Armour 1-31 Shields 0-0 HTK 20 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-1 PPV 0
MSP 25 Max Repair 100 MSP
Passengers 250 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (2) Power 125.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 302,000 Litres Range 74.8 billion km (900 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Liner for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
--- Code: ---Lightrunner class Colonist Transport 22,500 tons 122 Crew 669.4 BP TCS 450 TH 375 EM 0
833 km/s Armour 1-70 Shields 0-0 HTK 41 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 18 Max Repair 400 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 50,000 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (6) Power 375.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 832,000 Litres Range 59.5 billion km (826 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Colony Ship for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
--- Code: ---Royal Marine class Troop Transport 12,000 tons 73 Crew 269.6 BP TCS 240 TH 250 EM 0
1041 km/s Armour 1-46 Shields 0-0 HTK 42 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 14 Max Repair 80 MSP
Troop Capacity 5,000 tons
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (4) Power 250.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,206,000 Litres Range 161.7 billion km (1797 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
Construction of these vessels will take at least a year or more. For now, the people will have to simply wait.
Elsewhere on Earth, Interplanetary Expeditions has its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: IPX). Their primary purpose is to further explore the galaxy. This is the first time a space based company's stock has actually increased in value after its IPO. They have additionally proposed a new type of survey ship for deep space exploration that includes storage for surface reconnaissance vehicles, xenobiology and archaeology equipment, and even heavy construction vehicles for when a large quantity of regolith needs to be moved.
--- Code: ---Argonaut class Deep Space Survey Ship 20,000 tons 251 Crew 943 BP TCS 400 TH 500 EM 0
1250 km/s Armour 1-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 99 Sensors 0/0/1/1 DCR 23-11 PPV 0
Maint Life 7.17 Years MSP 677 AFR 139% IFR 1.9% 1YR 23 5YR 346 Max Repair 100 MSP
Troop Capacity 3,000 tons
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months Morale Check Required
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (8) Power 500.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 3,494,000 Litres Range 281.3 billion km (2604 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
While the design is reasonable for its intended purpose, that purpose isn't really needed at the moment. EarthGov has asked them to be patient and wait for available shipyard space, as well as an active jump gate, before beginning construction.
Stock in Auricon (NYSE: AUCN) jumps significantly as Earthforce signs a major contract for large numbers of their new phased plasma guns (PPG) for security forces. These PPGs should prove incredibly useful in space, as ballistic weaponry tends to create hull breaches.
On the 13th of June 2157, Earthforce announces the commissioning of the first vessels since the original 5 survey ships: The EAS Antelope, EAS Mimosa, and EAS Snow Squall. These 3 new transports will serve as logistical support craft for the eventual colonization of Mars. They will immediately begin moving construction materials to Mars intended for use in manufacturing large domes and transit networks in the area of Solis Planum. Presently, the project is referred to as Mars Dome One.
August 29th 2157, Cole Mining Corporation is set up on comet Stephan-Oterma as the first off world civilian operation. The EAS Mimosa has been dispatched to deliver minerals back to Earth.
With the completion of the EAS Starliner Clifford D. Simak on September 13 2157, regular travel to and from Mars has begun. Humans have officially declared Mars as their home and Mars Dome One will be completed within the year.
Earthforce has finally completed its survey of Sol finding that only Uranus and Neptune have any significant supply of mineral wealth at 18 million Q-40 and 1.5 million Q-40 respectively, both in gaseous form. Research continues into methods to harness these gaseous deposits. Otherwise, the Sol system seems virtually devoid of these new found minerals aiding us in construction of spacefaring vessels.
There are now over half a million people living on Mars after just over a year of colonization efforts. Infrastructure development continues as quickly as it can be done. Another dome is already being constructed.
Garfunkel:
Promising start!
Aloriel:
At last, Dr. Alton Kuliga has successfully designed a jump gate for immediate use. Our ship designers say they will have a completed draft of a new ship carrying construction materials for such a jump gate within the week. They estimate that it will be the largest ship we've ever built. Teams are already expanding the slipways at Altom Shipyard and Machinery Works to fit such a design.
--- Code: ---Pavel Cherenkov class Jump Gate Construction Ship 50,000 tons 208 Crew 1,068.7 BP TCS 1,000 TH 875 EM 0
875 km/s Armour 1-120 Shields 0-0 HTK 86 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 600 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Jump Point Stabilisation: 360 days
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (14) Power 875.0 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 5,588,000 Litres Range 179.9 billion km (2380 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Stabilisation Ship for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
Concerns have been raised that with all of the unprotected commercial shipping that piracy might start up again just like in the age of sail. We have been considering this fact and quietly researching weaponry with which to combat such piracy. It is possible that the first Earthforce warship will be online within a few years time. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any problems so far.
Despite this, engineers and R&D have been proposing new and innovative devices and weaponry. Now that we've been in space for 4 years, it is about time we fielded something with a little bite, just in case the various variables in the Drake equation are larger than we think. It's not much, but this is what they came up with:
--- Code: ---Moon class Corvette 2,500 tons 68 Crew 190.9 BP TCS 50 TH 156 EM 0
3125 km/s Armour 1-16 Shields 0-0 HTK 16 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-4 PPV 4.2
Maint Life 1.61 Years MSP 47 AFR 50% IFR 0.7% 1YR 21 5YR 316 Max Repair 78.125 MSP
Troop Capacity 100 tons
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type-M (EP156.25 25/125%/1.0L) (1) Power 156.2 Fuel Use 110.49% Signature 156.25 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 249,000 Litres Range 16.2 billion km (60 days at full power)
Single 10cm C1 Infrared Laser Turret (1x1) Range 30,000km TS: 8000 km/s Power 3-1 RM 10,000 km ROF 15
Beam Fire Control R80-TS5000 (SW) (1) Max Range: 80,000 km TS: 5,000 km/s ECCM-0 88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Amtek PWR Plant Pro 1MJ (1) Total Power Output 1 Exp 7%
Ground Forces
1x Platoon, Ship Security
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes
--- End code ---
Several members of the senate were wowed by it. Others, particularly ones that fought in wars, were less impressed. Still, it narrowly made it through an appropriations bill and EarthGov has contracted Bednar Stellar Shipbuilding to make three. We still don't have a jump gate builder online, but we'll have warships! Isn't that great? Has anybody pointed out that the ship has no sensor array to lock its weapons on a target? Designers hadn't mentioned a sensor satellite in the works.
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