White Star (Babylon 5)
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| White Star | |
|---|---|
 A White Star firing weapons. |
|
| First appearance | Matters of Honor |
| Affiliation | Interstellar Alliance |
| Launched | 2260 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Class | Whitestar Class Monitor |
| Fighters | 4 Nial fighters |
| Armaments | 1 Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon 2 Pulsed Neutron Cannons 4 Pulsed Fusion Cannons |
| Defences | 1.8 meter re-enforced Vorlon Bio-armoured hull GraviticTractor beams Vorlon shields Minbari stealth device |
| Power | Quantum gravitic reactor 3 Fusion reactors |
| Mass | 6.8 million metric tons |
| Length | 475.6 meters |
The White Star is a fictional, medium-sized combat spacecraft type employing a mix of Vorlon and Minbari technology in the science fiction television series Babylon 5. The sleek design intentionally differs from traditional Minbari and Vorlon craft to keep its identity secret.
The White Star commanded by John Sheridan was thought to be unique until near the end of the third season, where it was revealed that the first wave of 40-50 White Stars had entered duty. White Stars continued to be built and they were used extensively thereafter.
Unlike most other large ships in the series, White Stars were numbered, rather than being given unique names. At least 90 White Stars had been constructed by the end of the series.
The White Star was regarded as being amongst the smallest ships in the Babylon 5 universe which had the capability of opening its own hyperspace portals (known as "jump points") rather than relying on the jump gates used primarily by civilian craft, or upon jump points created by larger allied craft.
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[edit] History
The White Star-class Monitor was designed and built through a collaborative effort between the Minbari religious caste and the Vorlon Empire. With the reorganization and revitalization of the Rangers as a force with which to fight the Shadows, it was imperative that they be provided with a warship that would not be inherently recognized as either Vorlon or Minbari. As such, the ship was designed and built in secret and in large numbers by the Minbari worker caste. These vessels proved devastating during the Shadow War and the subsequent Earth Alliance Civil War. After the dust had settled, they served as a vital part of the Interstellar Alliance's military assets.
The original White Star was vaporized as Sheridan crashed it into the largest city on Z'ha'dum while detonating two 500-megaton nuclear warheads.[1]
[edit] Design
A White Star resembles a flying bird with outstretched wings. It is equipped with Minbari stealth systems and an advanced gravitic drive that manipulates gravity, giving it great speed and maneuverability. The crew has artificial gravity and a holographic viewsystem. While armed with Minbari weapons only, it packs more punch than an Earth Alliance Omega class destroyer.
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Since each White Star uses Vorlon bio-mechanic armor and control systems, the ship is actually a living entity that thinks and learns and adapts from experience. After several years of service no two White Stars are the same. The organic armor is very tough and can repair itself. It also adapts to enemy fire to provide better protection against weapons that it already "knows". In addition, each White Star is equipped with a Vorlon gravitic-deflection shield system that deflects the explosive energy of a weapons blast away from the ship, leaving only the physical impact of the blast itself. Little energy actually touches the hull; in order to damage or destroy a White Star an attack must generate enough power to overwhelm the total defensive output of the shields.
Like all Minbari warships, the White Stars also are equipped with a Minbari cloak. This stealth device creates a jamming field that absorbs incoming sensor beams or refracts/deflects the sensor beams away from the transmitter, thus shielding the ship from many forms of targeting sensors and the scanners of almost all the younger races. This is not to say that the stealth device makes the ship truly invisible to the naked eye however, rather invisible to scanners. More advanced sensors can pick up a Minbari ship through the stealth field, but the sensor echo is extremely small.
[edit] Legacy
The heavy losses suffered in the conflicts of the Shadow War and subsequent liberation of Earth led to the design of the larger and more powerful Victory class destroyer as an Earth-Minbar joint project taking after Vorlon designs. The first results were two prototypes completed five years after the events of the television series.
In the episode "Sleeping in Light", set in the year 2281, a possible variation on the White Star is used by Sheridan to make his final voyage. This version appears smaller than the original White Star and appears to be a personal transport.
