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Babylon 5
A full colour, 7-paged, B5 preview can be downloaded at the end of this page. The following text and illustrations are just a sample.
All Alone in the Night
The Babylon 5 diplomatic station is a city in space, located
within neutral territory in orbit around Epsilon 3, a desolate
and uninhabited planet. Designed as a political meeting
place for all races of the galaxy, its goal is to prevent war
through negotiation, compromise and the active promotion
of peace. However, it is also a vibrant and rich marketplace,
attracting traders and merchants from hundreds of worlds
to meet and do business. Babylon 5’s success has ensured
its place in the galaxy, as a centre for alien races to meet,
engage in politics and further understanding between them.
As implied by its name, Babylon 5 is the fifth space
station spawned by the Babylon Project, all of which were
constructed after the Earth/ Minbari War in order to avoid
such confl icts taking place in the future. Babylon 1, 2 and
3 (the first was actually called the Babylon Station) were
destroyed during construction, either through structural
failure or sabotage by terrorists opposed to humans
forming closer relationships with alien governments.
Babylon 4 simply disappeared without trace twenty-four
hours after it went on line and its fate remains one of the
galaxy’s greatest mysteries. EarthGov initially resisted
efforts by certain senators to fund a fifth station after the
disappearance of Babylon 4 as the entire project seemed
ill-fated, with many humans beginning to believe in the
‘Babylon Curse’. However, the goals of the Babylon
Project were still worthwhile and, many felt, more needed
than ever. Diplomacy among the major races of the galaxy,
including the Minbari, acquired additional funding so Earth
would not have to bear all costs of construction alone and
so Babylon 5 was finally approved and built in the same
system its predecessor, though in orbit around another
planet, Epsilon 3.
Few believed Babylon 5 would share any greater success
than the previous stations but, against all odds, it went
online in late 2257. Already, the station has experienced
disasters and potentially explosive diplomatic situations,
including a threatened attack by an entire Vorlon war
fleet in retaliation for the attempted assassination of their
first ambassador, Kosh. Led by Commander Sinclair and
supported by the ambassadors of many governments, the
station personnel on board Babylon 5 have proved to be
dedicated to their task and, thus far, have cleanly dealt with
every emergency situation they have faced. Back on Earth,
many still doubt Babylon 5 will survive long, and will
soon be claimed by either destruction or financial cutbacks
made by a government already pouring billions of credits
into other avenues of space exploration. As the station
enters the year 2258, it is set to face many more trials in
its mission of peace.
Arriving on Babylon 5
With an average of fi fty to one hundred ships arriving every
day through the jumpgate, all bringing visitors and cargo,
Babylon 5 is a hub for diplomats and traders. On any given
day, the station is a thriving and bustling environment, with
visitors constantly streaming through customs, bargaining
in the Zocalo or taking advantage of the multitude of
facilities available on board Babylon 5.
Whether arriving by shuttle from a large space liner or
warship, or travelling on board a smaller spacecraft, a
visitor will enter Babylon 5 through the Docking Portal
and proceed through the Central Docking Hub that links
sixty pressured holding bays to space outside. From here,
any cargo is unloaded by the army of dock workers living
on the station while passengers disembark and make their
way through customs, monitored by EarthForce security
teams. Once identified and scanned for weapons or other
illegal goods, the visitor is now free to travel through the
station though certain areas, particularly in Blue and Green
Sector, remain off-limits to unauthorised personnel. This
still leaves many areas to explore, with hotels, bars, casinos
and shops all supporting a thriving leisure industry on
Babylon 5. Few visitors stay long, as space travel can be
incredibly expensive, with most arriving and then departing
with business complete within just a few days. There are
few permanent residents on Babylon 5 aside from station
personnel and lurkers in Downbelow who have no money to
leave the station anyway.
The vast majority of personnel on the station are human,
though aliens can also find work in
civilian areas, often in business and
diplomatic areas such as translation,
information gathering and menial tasks.
Though operated by EarthForce, most
of the eight thousand personnel are
actually civilian contractors, performing
the myriad of tasks vital to keeping the
station functional, including unloading
cargo, sanitation, maintenance and food
preparation. More sensitive or vital duties, such as weapons
technicians, command staff and security are all EarthForce,
however.
The Command Staff
The most senior EarthForce officers on board Babylon 5
form the Command Staff, and have become well known
personalities because of both their position and actions
since the station went on line. In overall command is
Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, a surprisingly junior rank
for such an important position on board a diplomatic
station. He is assisted on station operations by Lieutenant
Commander Susan Ivanova, a bright and extremely capable
first officer from the Russian Consortium. The immediate
Command Staff is rounded off by Chief of Security Michael
Garibaldi and Chief of Medical Staff Dr Stephen Franklin.
Technically, their immediate aides are also considered part
of the Command Staff, but together these four have final
authority on Babylon 5 and have become well respected by
those serving beneath them.
Dockers’ Guild
By far the largest workers’ union on board Babylon 5, over
1,500 dockers belong to the guild, headed by their foreman
Neeoma Connoly (see p213). Bound by government
contract and forbidden by law to strike, despite being
civilians, relations between the Dockers’ Guild and the
Command Staff have always been strained as financial
cutbacks from EarthGov have consistently cut into the dock
working budgets. Life has become hard for the workers
and though they are considered an essential component
of Babylon 5, being responsible for the loading and
unloading of all the cargo that passes through the station,
they are understaffed and over-scheduled to the extreme.
Miss Connoly has warned that an accident is bound to
happen soon, citing the fatigue her workers are constantly
experiencing and the poor quality of dockside equipment.
Commander Sinclair is sympathetic to her wishes but is in
no better position to alter the station’s budget than she is.
Transport Association
Steadily growing in membership, the Transport Association
is a collection of freelance pilots and ship captains who
have grouped together to form an ad hoc union in order
to gain a better bargaining position against EarthForce
directives. In reality, the Transport Association has little
real power, as members have too many interests of their
present on Io in December, whether in EarthForce or as
private citizens, they would be advised to clean up any
operations currently being conducted under the radar,
so to speak, as Lianna will be ruthless in her pursuit
of presidential security, leaving no stone unturned
with respect to potential threats - unfortunately, she
has a good nose for problems and will happily inform
Io’s security teams to deal with any wrong-doing she
discovers.
The plot to assassinate President Santiago is a good
one to get the players involved with if they are
serving the Earth Alliance in any way, though it is
recommended that they never know exactly what tasks
they are performing in order to make the assassination
a reality. They may be called to ferry various people
and equipment from one part of the galaxy to another,
or relay information. It should never be obvious that
there is a link to any treasonous activities and, in fact,
the Games Master can go to great lengths to hide a
connection. However, at the end of 2258, there should
be some event of piece of information that comes to the
players (perhaps via an ISN broadcast) that hammers
home the fact that they were, unwittingly, part of the
overall plot. Fortunately, the official explanation of an
overloaded fusion reactor in EarthForce One will mean
that there will be few, if any, investigations. However,
the players may find themselves targeted by EarthForce
special agents eager to keep the plot secret, especially
if they begin talking to the wrong people about their
suspicions. . .
Lurkers being hired to perform various tasks by those
wishing to avoid official scrutiny is nothing new,
and Petrov is by no means the first to have fallen
foul of seeing or hearing too much. Players living in
Downbelow may have many opportunities to earn a
few extra credits unloading cargo from arriving ships
or performing other errands - perhaps following an
ambassador or other important individual, keeping track
of security team patrols or flat out stealing treasured
items. However, this may bring them into conflict with
station security, the targets of their illegal activities, and
even their employers, if the job turns sour or absolute
secrecy is required. The Games Master can insert any
number of scenarios into his campaign through this
method, bringing players back on track to his main
story arcs, or just providing some lighter and unrelated
scenarios within a full blown campaign.
It should be noted that this is the time that N’Grath
(see p179) flees Babylon 5. Though he was in no way
involved with the plot to assassinate President Santiago,
the alien was well aware that many in Babylon 5’s
security force would suspect him in the shooting of
Garibaldi. Suspecting that security officers would
fabricate evidence if none could be found linking him
to the attack, N’Grath fled not only the station, but the
entire Earth Alliance, hoping to reconstruct his business
somewhere in the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. This
has left something of a vacuum on board Babylon 5
among the criminal elements, one that will not be filled
for at least another four years. During this time, players
will have the opportunity to carve out their own niche
among the underworld, though with so many factions
moving in to fill this void (even coming from off-station
to try their luck), confrontations among criminal gangs
will steadily increase as time goes on, matching the
political upheaval that is to come.
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