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Our last, best hope for peace. |
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— Unknown |
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GEAS Starbase Babylon 5 is located in orbit around Epsilon Eridani III, the planet closest to the Rabbit Hole. A jump gate has also been constructed at the edge of the planet's gravity well, allowing for high-speed hyperspace jumps over even extended distances for ships with slower hyperdrives. The distance between the gate and B5 is moderate, allowing room to handle any security issues with incoming ships while still keeping it within range for swift sublight travel. The gate carries its own thrusters, allowing it to maintain a constant distance and attitude from the station. After the discovery of the Rabbit Hole and the potential diplomatic tensions with the Galactic Empire, the station was established for purposes of diplomacy and security between the local people and those from Galaxy 1138.
Defenses
Although designed primarily for peaceful purposes, Babylon 5 is also armed for defense. The station has two fighter wings of twelve starfury fighters apiece, designated Alpha and Delta Squadrons, along with a number of spare fighters to replace any lost in combat. These are launched from the fighter bays located along the arms connected the docking sphere to the carousel, then recovered via the main docking bay. The station also employs a number of shuttles, hazardous material-recovery ships, and automated camera and cargo pods.
The station also has several dozen plasma cannon arrays. Most of these are located along the zero-G spine of Babylon 5, but some are mounted on the main carousel to provide coverage along the underside of the station. These cannons are designed primarily for anti-fighter operations, but in concert they could inflict significant damage against capital ships. GEAS heavily debated the inclusion of more significant weaponry to the station out of concern that the station is far too vulnerable to a concerted assault, but in the end it was determine that installing such heavy weapon batteries on the station would run counter to its mission of peace.
History
After the discovery of the wormhole in the Epsilon Eridani System, one of the Babylon-series stations was rushed to completion and towed there in sections via jumpgate and assembled in planetary orbit. The previous stations in the series, Babylons 1-4, are located at other key locations throughout GEAS space, dating back numerous decades, and have traditionally served as major support centers for different sectors of known colonized space in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The station itself is approximately five miles long by half a mile wide, configured generally in the shape of a cylinder, known as a carousel, able to generate artificial gravity through spinning if necessary, though it also carries contemporary artificial gravity technology. The cylindrical main part of the station contains its living quarters, diplomatic facilities, commercial districts, and recreation areas. The stations decks are constructed not horizontally but as concentric rings, where each smaller ring is "below" the one above, though the term "below" is often also used to refer to the aft sections of the station, with Command and Control (or C&C) located at the forward end.
Blue Sector
A large, spherical structure comprises the forward end of the station. This docking sphere, also known as Blue Sector, contains the station's docking bays, Command and Control, GEAS facilities, and crew quarters. The station's fighter bays, housing its starfury squadrons, are located at the aft end of the section on the arms that connect the sphere to the rest of the station's carousel. Ships dock through the axial launch and recovery bay, from where they are moved via tractor beam to one of several dozen bays located around the docking sphere. There is a secondary bay located directly above the sphere, where docking rings extend to accommodate ships too large to dock internally.
Red Sector
Beyond the docking sphere, the forwardmost section of the carousel itself comprises Red Sector, the station's primary residential, commercial, and entertainment hub. It contains restaurants, guest quarters, casinos, conference facilities, and the station's main shopping plaza, known as the Zocalo. The aft section of Red Sector opens out onto The Garden, a large section of the carousel's interior that is effectively hollow, extending across various sectors of the carousel. The section of the Garden in Red Sector contains sports facilities and some of more high-end lodging options.
Green Sector
Moving aft, the next section is Green Sector, which contains the station's diplomatic and ambassadorial facilities, also comprises the "Alien Sector," which contains accommodations for those residents who require different environmental conditions from the human-friendly standard. Much of the Garden in this sector is given over to parkland, such as the Zen Garden, and garden space for each of the diplomatic embassies located nearby.
Brown Sector
Brown Sector, colloquially known as "Downbelow," is located aft of Green Sector and the Garden. Originally designed to serve as a second commercial area, the need to rush completion of the station led to that plan being abandoned. Brown Sector was left only partially developed, lacking much of the security and maintenance infrastructure common to the rest of the station. As a result, this area has become home to illicit dealings and the disenfranchised, including even a small homeless population.
Gray Sector
Grey Sector comprises the far aft end of the carousel, containing the primary industrial areas of the station, including heavy machinery and fabrication plants. This sector is heavily automated, and relatively few people work in it despite its significant size. The sector's low population tends to give it a lonely feeling, which combined with the various industrial noises of the place can give it an unsettling atmosphere. It has since been dubbed the "Babylon Triangle," partly in jest, but there are those who take the superstitions quite seriously.
Yellow Sector
Yellow Sector is the term given to the station's aftmost, zero-G facilities. These include the station's fusion reactor, located at the extreme aft end of the station), atmosphere processors, large solar panel and radiator fins, cargo pods, the zero-G docking bay, and the forward cargo stabilizers. Due to the sensitive nature of its facilities, Yellow Sector is strictly off-limits to all but authorized GEAS maintenance and security personnel.
Transport Tubes
Despite its large size, the station can be traversed quickly through its transport tubes, which provide high-speed transit between various decks and the station's core shuttle, a high-speed monorail that runs the length of the station from Blue to Grey Sector just along the main axis.
