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Interstellar AllianceInterstellar Alliance

1THE GREAT MACHINEISSUE 3 January 2004 THE GREAT MACHINE


2 THE GREAT MACHINE ISSUE 3 January 2004THE GREAT MACHINE

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Welcome Back, Hu-Nam!

Yes, your eyes do not deceive yousilly Hu-nam! It is I, Captain Fwiffo! I am stillhiding from the Ultimate Evil in thisabsolutely wonderful, heavily defendedfacility deep within the planet’s crust! Draalhas tried to put me to work, but I just run awayscreaming and he makes Zathras do itinstead.

The Great Machine continues toprotect me from the outside world, but it alsohas taught me many things -- other than howto shirk duty and cower in the corner lestDraal find me, of course. Find out whathappens when the Interstellar Alliance wasformed and started building a massive fleetof death-dealing warships! I sure hope theyfeel safe with their armadas, as theyrepresent the pinnacle of Interstellar Alliancetechnologies. Personally I like nice,dependable, SOLID rock much better for mypersonal protection and enjoyment.

I have also seen a large fleet fieldedby the Telnaca flying around here and there.I wonder who they are? Probablyrepresentatives of the Ultimate Evil!AGHHHH! Run for your infinitesimally lessimportant lives!

CAPTAIN FWIFFO,SPATHI OF THE WORLD

2 Introduction

3 The Birth of theInterstellar AllianceAn introduction to the formation of oneof the most influential and importantpolitical bodies in the Babylon 5universe.

13 Relics of the Past:The TelnacaThis first Relics of the Past specialfeature takes a look at Mike Walloch’sTelnaca, a new race for the Babylon 5Wars game system.

17 In BriefSeason 4 DVD’s now available;A push to finish up the missing piecesof the Babylon 5 universe underway

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"The Interstellar Alliance, basedon the homeworld of the MinbariFederation, was founded in theEarth year 2261, shortly after theend of the Shadow war twenty yearsago. Twenty years of history. Thoseof us who survived have seen it all,and those of us who understandhave been waiting and dreading thearrival of this day."

-- Michael Garibaldi, “Sleeping in Light”

New allegiancesopen the door tonew technologiesfor the races ofthe Babylon 5universe.

If nothing else the ShadowWar acted as a catalyst to bindtogether the younger races. Theraces of the former League of Non-Aligned Worlds had previously stoodat odds with one another, constantlysquabbling over territories andperceived slights. Even the peaceful,determined Abbai could not totallyovercome the natural distrust sharedby many of the League members. Incontrast the more powerful alliancesof the Minbari, Centauri, and Earthwere too powerful to be threatenedby these outside sources and tootied up in their own trivial pursuits tocare.

It took the threat ofannihilation to bring the youngerraces together. The path of



destruction sewed by the Vorlonsand Shadows across the starsproved that something had to bedone and a final solution attained.That final solution was the co-operation of these races to ensurethe survival of each of their species.Old grudges were set aside and allof the races of the League beganworking more closely together tocombat the Shadows and, later, theVorlons.

With the Shadow War “won”by the Army of Light, it was onlynatural for the co-operation to evolveinto a more concrete friendship andunderstanding. The mutual sign ofrespect and duty showed by theLeague of Non-Aligned Worlds andCentauri Republic in assisting withthe liberation of Earth in the final daysof the Earth Alliance Civil Waropened the door for the creation ofthe Interstellar Alliance. TheInterstellar Alliance would prove to beone of the greatest instruments forchange that the younger races hadyet seen.

More focused and organizedthan the League it largely replaced,the Interstellar Alliance had manybenefits for potential members. Thetearing down of trade barriers andmutual protection offered by theInterstellar Alliance was nothing lessthan a godsend for its chartermembers. The Shadow War hadshattered their lines of defense andbeleaguered their economies. Thepromise of protection from the WhiteStar fleet was in and of itself a mightybenefit, but the opening of greatertrade relations would help toinvigorate local markets.

Perhaps the greatest drawfor membership in the InterstellarAlliance was the promise of accessto new technologies. The Minbariand Centauri, as leading membersof the new Alliance, offered anti-gravity technology as a simple buteffective technological incentive toencourage nations to join thefledgling Alliance. The Earth Alliancewas swayed by just suchtechnological assistance, providingthem with invaluable scientific data

that could revolutionizetheir fleets.

During the firstdecades of the Alliance many

races began participating incooperative research projects.Some of the races did so out of amutual desire to forward scientificknowledge for its own sake.Others, however, hoped toincorporate the advantages of

their former adversaries into theirown fleets, using alien technologiesto counter possible threats fromother Alliance members. The numberof threats that the early Alliance facedcertainly did not act to disparage thisoutlook. The early betrayal of theCentauri and the later emergence ofthe Drakh led many Alliancemembers to accelerate thedevelopment of new defensetechnologies.

The Interstellar Alliancelikewise acted as a stimulus fortechnological growth anddiversification among its members.Several important Alliance militarydesign contractors were outsourcedto different contracting interestswithin the Alliance, spreading the costand benefits of the creation of anInterstellar Alliance military structureamong all of its members. SomeAlliance members, such as theGrome or Hurr, saw the least benefitsfrom these actions, but many of themore affluent members benefitedgreatly from the efforts.

This issue of The GreatMachine focuses on some of theships and technologies developed bythe members of the InterstellarAlliance in the years following itsestablishment.



Titan AdvancedDestroyerBy Tyrel Lohr

BackgroundThe Interstellar Alliance Titan

Advanced Destroyer was one ofmany Alliance-specific starships tobe contracted by the fledglingpolitical entity to help ensure thesecurity of its borders from externaland internal threats alike. The IA Titanwas developed after the productionof the Victory Advanced Destroyerand was seen as a more cost-effective ship. The Titan is larger thana White Star but yet smaller than thecapital ships of most Alliancemembers.

Offensively, the Titan is acompromise between themaneuverability of the White Starclass and the heavier weaponarsenal of the larger Victory. TheTitan is nimble for a capital ship,capable of outrunning andoutperforming most of itsequivalents. The output of the enginedoes not diminish the size of theship’s arsenal. The Titan has no lessthan five Improved Neutron Lasers.This number of heavy weaponsmake it a real threat to enemy capitalships that could shrug off the attacksof small White Star packs.

The IA Titan AdvancedDestroyer achieved limited usage inthe IA fleet, slowly replacing the WhiteStar as the primary IA patrol ship.

Fusion/Pulsar ArrayThe Titan and other IA ships

are often equipped with multi-functionturrets that house both beam andpulse-based weaponry. TheseFusion/Pulsar Arrays are capable offiring as either a Fusion Cannon ora Molecular Pulsar with a single turncharge. This versatility allowsAlliance captains the flexibilitynecessary to ensure victory overtheir opponents.

While on the surface it mightappear inequitable to ever fire theFusion/Pulsar Array in FusionCannon mode, you must considerthat Molecular Pulsar pulses can beheavily mitigated by armor, whereasa good Fusion Cannon blast can cutdeeply into a ship’s hull.

Allegiance LightCruiserBy Tyrel Lohr

Stemming from PresidentSheridan's request for proposalsconcerning an enlarged version ofthe White Star that would be able toconfront enemy capital ships on anequal footing, the AllegianceDestroyer is only 40% larger than astandard White Star. This heavycombat vessel fills the missionrequirements

that call for a ship more powerful thana White Star, yet does not befit aVictory.

The Allegiance has slightlymore firepower than the White Starand is much more versatile.Increased firepower over thestandard model White Star allowsthe Allegiance an advantage whencombating the enemy. The ‘Achilles'heel’ power shortage was alsocorrected in this decendant of theWhite Star, allowing it to power bothits weapons and jammer in a combatsituation. The Allegiance can alsooperate six fighters, providing fightersupport for other alliance ships.



Omega PicketDestroyerBy Mark Dwinnells

The Omega Rho modelDestroyer served as a final upgradeto the Omega line until theirreplacement on the field by other,larger ships such as the Warlock.The Light Pulse Cannon refit madethis model particularly suited to beinga ‘picket capital ship’ through itsability to quickly gun down smallercraft. This in turn enabled its fightercompliment to act in a whollyoffensive manner in almost anyscenario, thereby achieving the firstobjective in any fight: bringing thefight to the enemy, and keeping it offyour own doorstep. However,although the refits were possible, theOmega was nearing the end of itsservice life. With relatively few inservice at the time of the Drakhattack on Earth, the upgrade wasrelatively uncommon as the EarthAlliance focused mainly on trainingcrews to replace losses rather thanupgrading aging designs. (Phasedout entirely by 2285, museum pieceuntil 2360).

Callisto LightCruiserBy Tyrel Lohr

The post-Interstellar AllianceEarth Alliance found themselves indesperate need of a replacement forthe aging Hyperion Heavy Cruiser.The Omega Destroyer had phasedout the Hyperion class as the EA’sleading heavy cruiser class. Thedisplaced Hyperion Heavy Cruiserswere transitioned into a supportingrole, providing supplementary heavyweapons fire to Omega Destroyersquadrons. The Hyperion provedsuitable in this role, but notexceptional. The cost of newconstruction Hyperions remainedunnecessarily high for whatamounted to a glorified light cruiser.

After the Drakh attack onEarth and the loss of the home fleetsthe EA was forced to confront theneed for a modern light cruiser unit.Several designs had languished oncontractors’ drawing boards fordecades. Requests for proposalshad to that point not returned anacceptable design to fill the nicheoccupied by the venerable and highlycustomizable Hyperion.

The Callisto Light Cruiserwas the design ultimately selectedby EarthForce to fill the light cruiserrole. Based heavily on the OmegaDestroyer, the Callisto Light Cruiseris a smaller design that shares asimilar aesthetic style. Elements ofthe Omega, Warlock, and othernewer EA designs are evident in theCallisto’s design.

The Callisto’s major draw isthe wide arcs of fire on its primaryweapons. Rather than using fixedweapon emplacements like thosefound on the Omega, the Callistomakes use of external gun mountssimilar to a synthesis of the standardOmega mounts and the large gunturrets found on the NovaDreadnought. The Callisto iscapable of firing into regions thatother similar EA ships are simplyincapable of doing.

A strong point defense gridmakes the Callisto an exceptionallyeffective anti-fighter deterrent thatcan escort friendly squadrons,screening them against enemy smallcraft.

Few Callisto Light Cruisershave been built to date, the EAfocusing primarily on rebuilding theirOmega fleet before focusing onsupport craft construction.



Tinsharra LightCruiserBy Tyrel Lohr

The Minbari Tinsharra LightCruiser was developed by theMinbari for much the same reasonsthat led the Humans to develop theCallisto Light Cruiser. The ShadowWar and the subsequent MinbariCivil War left the Minbari Federationeconomically drained and its fleetsweakened. The Minbari’s lack ofresources forced them to outsourcethe construction of several IAconstruction projects (particularlythe Victory Destroyer) to other

Alliance partners. This same lack ofresources stymied the constructionof new-build Sharlin War Cruisers toreplace those lost during the yearsof conflict.

The Tinsharra Light Cruiseracted as a stopgap design capableof deterring possible alien threatsalong the Federation’s borders.Heavily armed for a ship of itssize, the Tinsharra’scombination of short and longrange firepower conferredseveral benefits to thehull. Long rangeImproved NeutronLaser fire canweaken shipsbefore theyenter weaponsrange, andthose ships

and fighters that enter optimal firingrange for their guns will be withinstriking distance of the Tinsharra’ssingle forward mounted MolecularPulsar.

TheSharlothaWar CruiserBy Tyrel Lohr

Another Perspective on theVenerable Minbari Sharlin

I have never been happy with the way that the Sharlinperformed in the game compared to the show. I couldn'tquite put my finger on it until the Brakiri Kaliva Lance Cruiserand its Gravitic Lances were introduced.

When we see the Minbari fire their forward neutronlasers we always seem them fire a single sustained blast.This got me to thinking that the perfect representation ofthis would be a single neutron lance, firing an auto-sustainingshot. The neutron lance is scaled up from the neutron laserin the same way as the gravitic lance is scaled up from thegraviton beam. It provides the Minbari with a truly devastatingweapon system and better represents much of the screenevidence.



Serpidian DestroyerBy Charles “Danesti” Haught

This ship was designed andcommissioned as a replacement forthe old and largely out-classedAltarian. The basic internal structurefrom the Altarian was left largelyintact to better distort the newconstruction from prying IA eyes, theweapons load out is changed toallow greater range and firepowerover the Serpidian’s predecessor.

While capable of operatingalone or in small groups the decisionto increase the ship’s EW and theaddition of the Engagement Lasersmarks the ship as fleet support ship.The Matter Accelerator Cannonallows the Serpidian to engageincoming threats at different rangesand rates of fire giving this ship alevel of flexibility unimagined byAltarian commanders.

In engagements againstraiders, the primary use for the firstgroups of these ships built, theirweapons range, flexibility, improvedmaneuvering abilities and organicfighter element allowed these shipsto be the death of many an intruderinto Centauri space.

In 2269, a full two years afterproduction had been in full swing, theRepublic requested permission toimprove their police element to helpsecure the shipping lanes carryingreparations to the worlds of theInterstellar Alliance. After much

debate, the go ahead was given andthe first “official” Serpidian joined theRoyal Navy.

Grafis FrigateBy Charles “Danesti” Haught

Another replacement design,this one for the aged Mograth, theGrafis continues early Centauri buildup themes by improving upon anexisting design. As with theSerpidian, the Grafis hull structureis largely based on the Mograth. Thisboth eased design time and requiredminimal modification to theconstruction facilities used to buildthese ships.

Like the Mograth before it,and the Serpidian, the Grafis is afleet support element used to engagesmall enemy warships, incomingfighters and to provide mid-

range laser fire support. Flying withthe Altarian replacements these littleships wrecked major havoc onraiders and Drazi, Narn, and GolianPrivateers sent to prey on the“weakened” Centauri.

A variant of this design, alongwith the Serpidian and the Atereax,was also submitted to the IA foradditional police duties. While theAtereax was not approved as it wastruly a main line warship, the otherswere given the go. When the firstfew rolled off their respectiveassembly lines with weapons fittedsome of the minor IA races becameworried. The armament of theseships was far more capable than hadbeen presented to the IA council.However, the major races were tooinvolved with the search for a cureto the Drahk plague, and other thana reprimand from the IA President

the designs were permitted tostand.

Multiple viewsof the the

Grafis Frigate



Na’Rok LightCruiserBy Paul Brown

While the Narn shared in thetechnological wealth of theInterstellar Alliance, much of thetechnology given to the Narns wasnot of military nature. At the urgingof members like the Earth andMinbari, Narn advances came in theform of environmental technologies.These were then applied to cleaningand rebuilding their homeworld andthe damage it had suffered from theplanetary bombardment. Thegreatest advance in navaltechnologies was that of artificialgravity. Meanwhile due to theirdepleted fleet, naval doctrine shiftedin part from fleet engagements toindependent actions. Ships werebuilt to operate alone ratherthan in larger groups, untilsuch time that a sufficientfleet of ships wasavailable for largedeployments.

The Na’Rok Light Cruiser wasdesigned to replace both the Var’NicDestroyer and the G’Karith PatrolCruiser. Most similar in design to thelatter, the Na’Rok includes a heavybeam armament capable of dealingwith most opponents. The remainderof the armament consists solely ofpulse weaponry, helping to lowermaintenance and logistical costs.The addition of artificial gravity hasgreatly extended its operating timewith crews no longer subjected to thetoils of zero gravity. The Na’Rok is asimple design and a worthysuccessor to previous designs. Asthe Narn fleet expands, the Na’Rokmay find more specialised andadvanced ships fighting alongside it.

Var’Nit EscortCruiserBy Ivan Edgerly

Following the liberation ofNarn, the Narn military set out to try

their best to rebuild theonce great Narn navy.Few ships remained inthe fleet, and those thathad survived destructionat Centauri hands didnot constitute aformidable fighting force.

In an attempt toremedy this situation,the Narns brought intoservice variations of theVar'Nic hull using

alternate hull configurationsand in the process eliminating thatship's assymetrical design.

The Var'Nit Escort Cruiser

was built as a heavy escort hull foruse in escorting warship patrolsalong the increasingly volatile Narn/Centauri border.

Var’Not SupportCruiserBy Ivan Edgerly

The Var'Not Support Cruiserwas developed to act as a firesupport platform, providing extralong-range firepower to its fleet byway of its forward heavy pulsecannon and side mounted iontorpedoes.

Though the Var'Not precededthe Var'Nit by several years, theVar'Not Support Cruiser is stillconsidered a variant of the Var'Nithull due to its relative scarcity.

UPDATE: Still looking for Bubbles.I’m really getting tired of all the“The Shadows killed your dog!”replies. I know for a fact thatBubbles is not afraid of the dark.Pranksters need not reply.

LOST: One Earth Dog“Bubbles”

Last seen on Colonyin Quadrant 14

Call Warleader G’Ruff



ScarhawkBattlecruiserBy Terry “Madoka” Mott

IntroductionWith the formation of the IA

there came talk of tech exchangesand discussions of what newwonders might come from thetransfers. Naturally one of the firstfields the races looked to gain anadvantage in was their weaponry.This was especially true of the Drazi.Drazi diplomats and scientists werequick to secure technical supportfrom other Alliance races to help anddevelop their next generation ofweapon systems.

The Scarhawk is a rarevariant of the Sunhawk hull thatreplaces all four Particle Blasterswith Particle Spikes, keeping thesame arcs, armour, and location onthe damage charts. The Scarhawkis so named, and not muchappreciated by Drazi captains, dueto the fact that it tends to merelyscar and cripple an opposing shiprather than outright destroy it.

Particle SpikeDeveloped with the technical

assistance of the Abbai, the ParticleSpike is a weapon that focuses itsbeam into a single strike, piercingthe enemy ship. It functions only inpiercing mode and like other

piercing-only weapons does notsuffer the to-hit penalty that a multi-mode weapon firing in piercing modedoes.

The Particle Spike is partiallybased on pre-IA weapons researchconducted by the Freehold prior totheir entrance into the Alliance. TheDrazi may have eventually been ableachieve the necessarybreakthroughs leading to the Draziindependently, but the techexchanges provided by otherAlliance members greatlyaccelerated their research.

The Drazi have always beena bit inclined towards brute force, toput it kindly, so the Particle Spike hasnot caught on and the ships it hasbeen fitted to remain rare oruncommon variants.

Designer’s NotesThe longer range of the

Particle Spike is mostly balanced outby the slower rate of fire. The Spikeis a more damaging weapon than theBlaster. Though piercing mitigatesmuch of the damage output, thepotential criticals and hitting the farside balances that out. Still, I don’t

see the Spike as being as damagingas the Quad Pulsars and HeavyBolters of the Preyhawk, so I wentfor a points value between thenormal Sunhawk and the Preyhawk.Of course playtesting would be needto refine this.

As for the weapon, I see themost controversial thing being theFC. It should probably be lower thannormal particle weapons to balanceout the lack of the normal piercingpenalty. At the same time, the Draziare kind of known for their good FCs.Given that the damage output is lessthan the Abbai Combat Laser and theParticle Spike being interceptable, Ithought a higher FC would be okay.The low damage output (the split foreach volley against a Capital is prettymuch 1d10+4) also makes thehigher FC reasonable in my mind.

Roc BattlecruiserBy Paul Brown

The Heavy Particle Cannonwas a common Drazi weapon butwas only found on fixed installationsand orbital weapon platforms. Thesheer bulk of the weapon clashedwith the Drazi methodology of quicklight and agile combat craft. TheDrazi were certainly able to build aship capable of using the weapon inthe 2250s, but such a ship would bemore akin to an Earth Alliancewarship with slow turning speedsand high maintenance concerns.Such a ship would not fit into theDrazi fleet except as an auxiliarywarship used to bombard fixedinstallations or planets. And as a



result, it was never constructed.After the Interstellar Alliance

came to be, the Drazi gainedknowledge in advancedmanufacturing procedures throughseveral trades with other races. Thisnew knowledge combined with moreadvanced models of the HeavyParticle Cannon inspired the Drazito once again try to design a shipcapable of carrying the weapon.What allowed them to do so wereadvances in construction material.The Drazi could build ships usingmaterials which were less dense butalso nearly as resilient as materialsalready in use. In effect, they wereable to compensate for the mass ofthe huge weapon by making a farlighter ship hull. This allowed thedesign to retain the manoeuvrabilityof existing Drazi ships while packingthe desired punch.

The Roc Battlecruiser cameinto service in the mid-2260s. Thenew building materials, whileenabling the construction of thedesign, also limited its productionthrough their higher cost. Thematerials themselves did not proveas resilient on the battlefield as firstsuspected. In actual combat againstraiders and other hostile vessels thehull absorbed far less damage thanpredicted. After the first battlefieldreports, production of the Roc wasscaled back even more until suchtime that a stronger material couldbe synthesised for ship construction.

The Roc Battlecruiser existsin limited numbers in the Drazi fleet,bringing battleship scale firepower tothe field for a cruiser-heavy fleet.Space and power requirements ofthe main weapon, even combinedwith new hull materials, hasnecessitated reduced secondarysystems such as sub-standardsensors, limited secondaryarmament and the lack of an inter-system drive. All of these factors

have limited the ship’s popularityamong Drazi captains, though thereexists a certain niche in the officercorps which adores the vessel for itssimplicity and finesse.

Solar RocBattlecruiserBy Paul Brown

As new technologies wereintroduced to the Drazi, it helped toinspire some of their weaponsresearch to branch off in newdirections. Consequently, ever thewarrior race, the Drazi madeimprovements in other weaponryand began to mount them on theircraft. One such advancement wasthe Ranged Solar Cannon. A largerweapon that its predecessor, it hadgreater range and a lower rate of firewith larger amounts of damage. Itsmain failing, as with most newtechnologies, was the need forconstant maintenance. One RangedSolar Cannon often required asmuch maintenance as the totalarmament of a SunhawkBattlecruiser. Until the Drazi are ableto produce a cheaper, ruggedversion of the gun it is unlikely that itwill see widespread deployment.

At the moment the RangedSolar Cannon is only mounted on theSolar Roc Battlecruiser. Its previousversion utilising a Heavy ParticleCannon never really gained favourbecause of its high rate of fire withnearly three times therequirements of most otherDrazi weapons. This newweapon wouldmaintain the typicalrate of fire, but withmuch greaterdamage. Theship has yet tosee combat,

but should prove a capable opponentfor any craft it comes across.

Stalkbird RaidingCruiserBy Tyrel Lohr

The Stalkbird is a strippeddown Warbird designed by the Drazifor support of raider organizations inor near their territories. A smallwarship capable of carrying 12fighters on external side-mountedrails (typically Delta-V's or StarSnakes), the Stalkbird also providesabove average firepower to raiderfleets and make good commandships for leading lesser raider craftinto battle.

Stalkbirds are typically loanedto raider groups for only a shortamount of time, and even then theyare usually are kept under Drazicommand in order to protect theirinvestment. Some raiders that haveproved their worth and loyalty to theDrazi, however, have managed topurchase several Stalkbirds for theirown use, though this is a rarecircumstance.

Although the Drazi did notmake use of Stalkbirds at Imphil, theywere still operating such ships atother locations in support of otherdubious operations.

(Failed Variant from the Variants 4Contest; not related to the RPP2 ship of thesame name.)



Senkala KavEscort CarrierBy Paul Brown

The Senkala Kav, as withmany new designs, was builtbecause of the increased tradeamong Interstellar Alliancemembers. The difference is,however, that the Senkala was notbuilt from information that the Hyachgained from any trading, but rather itwas built because of the tradingitself.

The Hyach have in recentmemory become a very isolationistrace. In many instances they havesealed their borders to outsiders, andused their formidable navy to deterpotential opponents. During theDilgar War the might of their shipsenabled them to remain a sovereign,albeit cornered, people in the conflict.As a society they had begun todecline both in a technological andgenetic sense. The greatest changethat the Alliance brought was in themindset of the Hyach Gerontocracy.Trading with fellow members of theAlliance became more prevalent inboth the commodities of goods andideas. New ventures began torevitalise the economy and Hyachsociety. One problem which lingeredwas the presence of privateers andraiders which preyed on both civilianand military shipping. Despite theformidable White Star and alliedfleets, the presence of raidersactually increased after the Alliance’s

inception. It is believed that manyraiders were not private individualsbut were in fact sponsored byfactions outside of the Alliance, suchas the Centauri Republic. Whatevertheir origin, they posed an imminentand real threat to all shipping throughAlliance space. In order to curbattacks against their convoys, theHyach created the Senkala Kav.

The Senkala Kav is a newcarrier design built with stealthcapabilities equal to those found onthe Alichi Kav. These capabilitiesenable it to remain virtually invisibleto enemy sensors at long range,especially less capable raidersensors. The ship is designed toescort and protect both civilian andmilitary convoys from enemy attack.The design has in fact two mainstrengths. The first strength is itsdecent hangar capacity of eighteenfighter craft, which are launched froma rear-ward facing bay to avoiddetection. Raider fighters are nomatch for the likes of Dartha andDovska medium fighters, the latterof which has stealth capabilities ofits own. The carrier ’s secondstrength is not inherent in anyphysical design, instead its secondand perhaps greatest attribute is itsability to invoke the fear of theunknown. Because stealth shipmovements are known only to Hyachnaval command, Raiders will simplynot know whether a Hyach convoyis protected by one or more carriersor not. An attack against anunprotected convoy could turn intothe worst and last mistake a Raidingparty ever makes. The mere threatof a warship lurking beyond sensor

range is often deterrent enough. Andbecause the convoy captainsthemselves typically don’t know ifthey’re being protected or not, thisinformation could not be sold orleaked to Raiders. Their invisibilityalso helps the Hyach to ‘guard’ a greatmany more convoys that they canpossibly accomplish. An essentiallyunprotected convoy could finish itstrading route unmolested simplybecause Raiders are unwilling totake the chance. Consequently, theSenkala Kav may be one of the themost effective escorts there is.

The Senkala Kav has beenproduced in limited quantities. Aboutsixty percent have been assigned tothe regular Hyach navy to provideadditional fighter support for defencefleets. The remaining ships arerotated between merchant andmilitary convoys to provide escort.

The Hyach-doh:The Hyach-doh:The Hyach-doh:The Hyach-doh:The Hyach-doh:

Genetic Necessity orGenetic Necessity orGenetic Necessity orGenetic Necessity orGenetic Necessity orYummy Treat?Yummy Treat?Yummy Treat?Yummy Treat?Yummy Treat?



Welcome to Relics of thePast, a new The Great Machinespecial feature! Periodically we willbe taking a peak at the past of theBabylon 5 Wars game system,investigating the lost ships andraces created by fans over theyears.

This first month we arefeaturing the Telnaca Telnafak, a newspecies created by Mike Walloch.GM editor Paul Brown discoveredthe Telnaca during a sweep of his olde-mail. Enjoy!

Here they are, along with the fluff text.Concept was by Eric Bruce, thewriting, weapon and ship design wasby me, with his and Tracy’s input,and Tracy did the graphics and shipsheets. I hope you enjoy them. Iwould like to run them against theTolkid and Rawnjok sometime. ;)

-Mike Walloch

TelnacaTelnacaTelnacaTelnacaTelnacaTelnafakTelnafakTelnafakTelnafakTelnafakSociety

The Telnaca are a stubborn,proud race who makes every effortto do everything in excess. For mostof their recorded history they have

been warring amongst each other fora host of reasons. They will begin along-lasting feud for almost anyreason, including competition forresources, slights to their honor,philosophical disagreements, etc.The one thing, however, whichalways bound them together was acertainty that they were the absolutepinnacle of evolution. They believethe very universe itself hasmanifested it’s greatness in them,and that there is, nor can there be,any race as intelligent or capable asthemselves. This belief borders onreligion, but it is truly more of aphilosophical conviction.

The Telnaca have no belief inan afterlife or the supernatural. Tothem, immortality lies in thepropagation of their bloodline andtheir reputation amongst theirdescendents once they are gone.Their literature is full of tales of bravewarriors who died performinghonorable acts, especially when thatdeath could have been avoided if aless honorable course of action hadbeen chosen. This makes peacemaking and diplomacy amongfactions almost completely futile aseach warrior is awaiting his chanceto die in a blaze of glory.Exacerbating the problem is theirmassive birth rate. They have onlyone sex with each member carryingboth male and female geneticinformation. While coupling is stillrequired to mix the DNA bothparticipants lay a clutch of eggswhich hatch in only 3 months.

Maturity is reached at 8 standardyears of age. They reproduce soquickly that combat losses are ofvery little importance to them and theworth of individuals to society isminimal.

The social order is entirelybased on slavery. Each Telnaca“master” has personal slaves, andthose slaves have slaves, who havetheir own slaves. And so it goes ondown from the leaders of thefactions, called Allmasters, to thelowest social class, the slavelessslaves. Promotion in the social ordercomes either from gaining enoughwealth to buy a better position andmore slaves or through the death ofone’s own master, and thus movinga step closer to the Allmaster. Theyoung are slaves of their parent fromthe day they are hatched. While intheory nobody has any rights, inpractice there are social customswhich are rarely betrayed. One ofthese is the obvious right of even thelowliest slave to own personalproperty.

PoliticsFrom the earliest recorded

history the Telnaca have formedfactions, first resembling primitivetribes, then family clans, and latergrowing into nations of allied clans.Each faction is led by a cunningAllmaster who keeps his positionthrough personal wealth, force ofpersonality, and guile. Over time



some factions are conquered andabsorbed by others and new onesare formed as submasters rebelagainst their allmasters, thusbecoming allmasters themselves ifthey survive the resulting war.

The Telnaca race has neverhad any lasting cohesive empire assuch organizations always fall tointernal conflict. There have beenblessfully rare instances in which atotal truce has been called betweenmany factions to form an allianceagainst a hated enemy faction. Thisalliance is called a Telnafak and isthe rough equivalent of a jihad. Thisalliance will last until one side or theother is completely defeated. Anegotiated peace is not an option.During this time no member of theTelnafak organization may kill anyother member. Grievances must becataloged to be dealt with once theprimary enemy is vanquished.

The Space AgeAround the year 2000 one

large Telnaca faction launched theirfirst space craft. Other factions,eager not to be left behind in this newarea of competition, quickly followedsuit. The wealthiest factions soonembraced the exploration andcolonization of their home systemwith the same zeal they put intoeverything else in life. Of course,once in space the factions beganfighting amongst themselves forcontrol of colonies and resources,

leading to an explosion in fleetproduction and an endless series ofspace battles. Eventually, once theybecame self-sufficient, many of thecolonies rebelled and gainedindependence. In the time since,Telnaca warships have beenconstantly clashing with one anotherthroughout the home system. TheSpace Age, it seemed to them, waslittle different than the era of navalwarfare on the oceans of theirhomeworld.

Then, a few years ago,everything changed. A Telnaca shipexploring the outer reaches of thiersystem found a jump gate. Afterstudying the device they quicklydetermined what it was and how touse it. They also realized that it wasso old as to pre-date recordedhistory. Most assumed that theremust have been some very ancient,highly advanced Telnaca civilizationwhich had fallen and taken all it’sadvanced knowledge to the gravewith it, forcing them to start over fromscratch. Some believed that theremust be other Telnaca in theuniverse and that they themselveswere a lost colony. None of themeven considered the possibility ofother sentient life. It was unthinkableto them. Then they began exploringthe hyperspace beacon routes, andlearned the awful truth. They havediscovered that they are not the onlyintelligent race in the universe, northe most advanced. This discoveryhas rattled the entire fabric of theirconvictions, and offended the entire

race beyond any other possibleoffense. Consequently, they havedeclared a Telnafak against everyother intelligent race in the universe.They intend to proceed with this waruntil they reclaim their rightfull placeas the sole manifestation of theuniverse’s greatness, the onlysentient species. For the first timein all of Telnaca history, the entirerace is at peace with itself and unitedagainst alien foes.

TechnologicalDevelopment

The technological level of theTelnaca is quite low, by the standardsof other spacefaring races.Technologies that others considerbasic are above their scientists andengineers at the current time. Thisis most especially noted in theirships. However, they compare theircurrent technology against their pasttechnology, and considerthemselves very advanced.

Due to their lack of technicalexpertise and swarm and attrition-based tactics the alloys they use areinferior to those that most races use.While this makes their ships cheapand easy to build, it also means thatthey have structure and armor levelswell below those of most otherraces.

They do not have truefighters as the level of miniaturizationrequired to build them is a bit above



thier level. However they do havearmed shuttles which they use inmuch the same way.

Their Electronic Warfaresystems are completely minimal byother race’s standards. All of theirships have only the absolute minimallevel of sensors to acquire a lock onan enemy vessel (1 EW). Since theirearlier system was optical only, theyconsider this advance to be absolutecutting edge technology. Thesesensors can not be boosted by extrapower as those of more advancedraces can.

For propulsion the Telnacause a combination of low tech iondrives and chemical thrusters. Theion drives are always mounted in aship’s aft section. They are used forlong distance travel as they use verylittle reaction mass, but they alsoproduce very little thrust, are powerhungry, and expensive. Thechemical thrusters are used formaneuvering and for an extra boostin combat speed. These thrustersburn refined fuel which is stored in acentral tank. If the tank is hit it canexplode and destroy the ship.Therefore these tanks always havesome of the heaviest armor of anysystem on the ship.

Each thruster is capable ofproducing it’s entire thrust rating perturn, but no more. Overthrusting isnot possible and extra power can notbuy more thrust, as the chemicalthrusters use no power. Each shipis assumed to have enough fuel tolast though any battle, so keeping

track of it is not necessary forscenarios. On a critical roll of 21 ormore a fuel tank will explode anddestroy the primary structure of theship.

The Telnaca have not yetdiscovered fusion technology, butthey do use some nuclear reactors.However the home system is shorton radioactive materials, likeplutonium and uranium. In addition,their low level of technology and poormanufacturing standards makereactors expensive, bulky, andlargely unsafe. Due to theselimitations they rarely use reactorson anything smaller than a starbaseand it is uncommon for them to usenuclear weapons. Considering theirpropensity for internal warfare this isprobably for the best, and may havesaved the race from destroying itself.

Since they are lacking inreactors, they must rely on largesolar panels and back-up generatorsinstead. The level of powergenerated by these systems is quitelow compared to a fusion, or evenfission reactor’s output. Yet it issufficient to fully power Telnacawarships. The major downside tothis system is that solar panels arefragile and often shot off duringbattle, forcing the ship to use thegenerator and burn extra fuel. Sincethis is only a short-term solutionTelnaca ships carry one extra set ofdisassembled solar panels insidethe ship. After a battle they can repairdamaged panels and replace

destroyed ones without returning toa repair facility.

Each solar panel producesit’s rating in power each round solong as direct sunlight is available.If a solar panel is destroyed anyoverkill is lost due to the fact that thepanels protrude far from the ship’sbody and are only tenuouslyconnected to the structure. Solarpanels have their power ratingreduced by 1 point for a critical hitroll of 13 or more. The generator canproduce it’s rating in power each turnby burning fuel. However, while thegenerator is active it reduces theflow of fuel to the thrusterstemporarily reducing the thrust ratingof each chemical thruster by 1 point.

WeaponTechnologies

The Telnaca make heavy useof missiles as they require no powerand provide their own trackingcapabilities. The capabilities of theseweapons are very similar to thosedeveloped by the Earth Alliance andothers. They use flash, heavy, long-range, piercing, chaff, and standardmissiles. They never developed theanti-fighter, HARM, or multi-warheadmissiles, as there was no role forthem in Telnaca warfare. Of course,Telnaca tracking systems are still farbelow the level of accuracy of otherraces missiles. Telnaca missile



launchers are also not as advancedas those of most other races.

All Telnaca missiles areidentical to those used by otherraces except they receive only +1OEW, not the standard +3 OEW.Due to this they also each cost 1point less than normal missiles ofthe same type. Telnaca missilelaunchers are identical to standardClass-SO Racks.)

The standard Telnaca directfire weapons are a family ofconventional cannons which propelan explosive shell with chemicalpropellants. While similar to othermatter-based weapons thesecannons do not launch their shellsat the velocities needed to bypassarmor. The ammo for these guns isstored in ammo magazines deepinside the ship and automatically fedto the weapons. These weaponssuffer the same chance of explodingwhen damaged or destroyed thatmissile racks do. However, there isno chance that any more than asingle round of ammo will be set offin this manner. But if the magazineis hit there is a chance that all of theammunition inside it will explodedestroying the vessel. Therefore themagazine is always as heavilyarmored as the fuel tank.

For interception purposes theTelnaca use the Machine Gun whichfires rapid bursts of chemicallypropelled bullets. While thesebarrages do little damage individually,and the range is very poor, theweapon has a very high rate of fire.

It is a very capable interceptionweapon, especially against ballistics,and the main reason cannons arestill the mainstay of the Telnacainventory. Machine Guns aresusceptible to ammo explosions justas the cannons are.

Each time a Telnaca Cannonor Machine Gun is hit roll a d20. If anatural 20 is rolled one round willexplode inside the weapon dealingthe standard damage of a singleshot as a second hit to that location.No armor applies as the explosionis internal. Standard weapon criticalhits still apply. Magazines willexplode on a critical roll of 21 ormore.

Telnaca Starships

Glorious WarshipThe Glorious is the most

common ship-of-the-line in mostTelnaca space navies. It is intendedto be a well-balanced fleet unit, butalso perfectly capable of operatingalone. With it’s balanced mix ofweaponry it can engage any Telnacaopponent at any range. It hasreasonable maneuverability andarmor levels and, like most Telnacaships, excellent interception abilities.

Vengeance MissileFrigate

While many Telnaca shipscarry at least one missile rack, the

Vengeance specializes in them. Itcarries no cannons, but insteadrelies entirely upon missile racks foroffensive firepower and machineguns for defense.

It’s design was heavily drawnfrom the Glorious Warship, butstructure and armor were sacrificedand the thrusters enlarged to allowfor greater speed andmaneuverability. Tactically theVengeance is most often used likean artillery piece, being placedbehind the cannon-equipped front-line units and offering fire supportfrom a relatively safe distance.



News fromthe FrontSeason 4 DVD’s ReleasedJanuary 11, 2004

The fourth season of Babylon 5 isnow available on DVD! Released in earlyJanuary, it brings us one step closer tohaving the entire Babylon 5 seriesavailable on DVD.

In other related news, the releasedate for the season five DVD’s has been announced and is quite a bitsooner than expected. The last season boxed set for Babylon 5 will bereleased on April 13, 2004. It should be expected that the Babylon 5movies and Crusade DVD’s will follow these releases, optimistically beingreleased before the end of the year.

IN BRIEF...IN BRIEF...IN BRIEF...IN BRIEF...IN BRIEF...Fans ContinueDevelopmentSeveral new projects in the works

Fans of the Babylon 5Wars game system continue topress forward on thedevelopment of new ships, races,and technologies. Recentdiscussions on the Babylon 5Wars Forums (b5wars.net) haveillustrated some of the projectsthat are currently in the works.

One of the enthusiastspressing for the continued releaseof fan-created material is RenaudGagne, co-creator of the FreeHuman Union (FHU)and Great CrusadeOrieni material. Renaudis rallying players to getout and continueworking to fill the holesleft by thedisappearance of Agentsof Gaming.

Among one of the mostnotable sections of unfinishedmaterial being worked on by fansis the ships and races of the earlyEarth Alliance wars. Severaldevelopers are working onversions of the Koulani andCh’lona to compliment theexisting early Earth Alliance ships.Alexander “ShadowScout” Pernerand Charles “Danesti” Haught areamong two of the people workingon these races. Richard Bax haslikewise released periodicupdates including several oldEarth Alliance vessels.

Wanted:One Ur-QuanSlave ShieldNew or used conditionNo price too high

Contact:Captain Fwiffo c/o ZathrasThe Great MachineEpsilon 3



Coming Next Issue...Coming Next Issue...CreditsCreditsCreditsCreditsCreditsEditorsPaul BrownTyrel Lohr

LayoutTyrel Lohr

ProofreadingPaul BrownTyrel Lohr

Submission [email protected]

Distribution Pointplanetside.firenebula.com

The GREAT MACHINE is anunofficial, fan-basedelectronic publication

dedicated to the Babylon 5Wars game system.

BABYLON 5, BABYLON 5WARS, the B5W Core Rules,

FLEET ACTION, GROPOS andall related material are copyright

2002 by Warner Bros. Thecontents of this unofficial

publication are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of

these product identities,copyrighted material or

trademarks anywhere in thisdocument and its associated files

should not be viewed as achallenge to those copyrights or

trademarks.Original concepts and mechanicsremain the intellectual property of

their respective authors.

Next monthThe Great Machine willtake a look at the past -- in more ways that one! MoreRelics of the Past will be featured. We will dust offseveral designs and information for old ships andraces. Many of these ships have been long forgottenby players and we hope that you will appreciate thehard work that past players have put into the Babylon5 Wars game system.

Do you have any old ship designs that you did along time ago that you would like people to take apeek at? Send all submissions [email protected] along with somebackground, rationalizations, and (perhaps mostimportantly) some of the history behind the design.They might appear in the next issue!

Submission Deadline: January 30, 2003

Relicsof thePast

Documents

Interstellar Alliance - smikesworld.dksmikesworld.dk/smworld/magazines/gm_issue03.pdf · represent the pinnacle of Interstellar Alliance technologies ... natural for the co-operation