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[meta] Why are the Fivers a Major Faction?
03-14-2012, 03:42 PM
As I mentioned over in the "One year later" thread, nobody really knows what if anything the Fivers do in Fenspace.
They don't have a major point-of-presence (the folks at Babylon .5 insist they aren't the faction headquarters), they don't have a role in the Convention beyond mediating interfactional disputes (which is being taken over by the Space Patrol's Section 3), and they don't have any named characters or ships.
CGI is a bigger part of Fenspace than the Fivers are, and they're nearly a decade younger than the Interstellar Alliance...
So... why are the Fivers one of the "Big Six" factions? Should they be demoted to Minor Faction status? If yes, should the Big Six become the Big Five, or should somebody else (possibly the Supers) be promoted to take their place?
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Inertia. Plain and simple. They were considered part of the Big six at one stage..... and even though the other's have expanded massively and bigger newcomers have come along, they're grandfathered in in people's perceptions.
And the simple fact that they know they shouldn't be there and are only there so long as they side with whomever is quietly backing them and ensuring they remain at the top table.
Although, the alternative solution is also good.
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Quote:CGI is a bigger part of Fenspace than the Fivers are, and they're nearly a decade younger than the Interstellar Alliance...
thank you *smile*
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back to topic:
Most likely because no one started to write about them... there are definitely a lot of B5 fans on Earth.
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You know, I'm pretty sure I had a rationale for promoting the Fivers to the majors back when I first came up with the list... damned if I can remember what it was now, though. Might've just been residual brand loyalty or some equally dubious thing.
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I suppose it's time we whip up a few big-name ships and NPCs. The White Star and the Agamemnon are two obvious ships, although the Aggie is probably going to be an OGJ-era battleship. And how about a Sheridan, a Sinclair, a biomodded Delenn, and maybe a team of Garibaldis...?
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A team of Garibaldis... I like that. Not a Julien Fries repeat, though. A family. Father, mother, six or seven adultish children, maybe the teenish children of the oldest of those...
Base the parents on Garibaldi and his wife from season 5... one of the kids should be a Rally Vincent expy...
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:I suppose it's time we whip up a few big-name ships and NPCs. And that's the option I didn't consider... but it'll work, sure.
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Don't forget Starfuries! They're so maneuverable that they can punch over their weight in a fight.
blackaeronaut Wrote:Don't forget Starfuries! They're so maneuverable that they can punch over their weight in a fight. Finally a worthy opponent for Friggas choppers 
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I have so much junk notes scratched up about space combat between manned fightercraft it's not funny.... I actually had a story planned for it. Using the Choppers and conventional fighter..... and the merits of both approaches. And why acceleration drive fightercraft aren't popular.
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Well that last is easy: Accel-drive-only craft lack the "Space is a Drag" trope/quirk/feature, which is a boon for getting from 'A' to 'B' but a major flaw for fightercraft. In combat, travelling in long straight lines is a good way to get yourself killed.
Of course, now I'm imagining a craft that handles exactly as if it was in an atmosphere, except that it experiences no drag. And it has an accel drive (of course, since all mundane craft have an accel drive). Never mind, that won't work, drag is what makes atmospheric handling function and there's no way to separate speed-limiting drag from maneuverability-granting drag.
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That was partly the plan for the Havocs and Choppers..... they can point in any direction while continuing to proceed along a vector. Their downfall being they only achieve about half the speed of other combat spacecraft... necessitating a different kind of tactics.
The plan was to have slow moving by hypermaneuverable Havocs work in concert with something fast but hard to steer. The faster spacecraft to keep enemy combat spacecraft from making raiding passes on the choppers, forcing them to slow down and engage the more maneuverable Havoc to it’s advantage. Each unit type has one main capability, and to win they have to be used properly in concert. (Was kind of hoping this was a different approach from what everyone else was doing. With it's own advantages and drawbacks.)
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*lightbulb moment* Hang on... maybe thats what also keeps the 5'rs in it... Star furies drive quirks combine the 'flight vector separate from orientation" of the sorce plus the 'bend flight vectors on a dime' abilities of Inertialess (ie speed) drives?
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As the guy who originally came up with Babylon .5, I had the station's AI/majordomo as Commander Susan Ivonova, and with repeated sightings of what appeared to be Zathras (or possibly just a prankster).
B.5 wasn't intended to be come the Fiver HQ by the founders/owners, they were just B5 fans with tendancies towards puns. They eventually gave up denying the 'Fiver HQ' label once it became clear that they were attacting a large Fiver population and becoming said HQ in spite of themselves.
one of the ideas I never got around to typing out were 'chibi-furies' for later in the Boskone war. 1/4 scale starfuries 'piloted' by artificial stupidities (IE low grade AIs) that tend to stick close to whatever they are assigned to guard/escort (usually the station)
Of course, this is the first time I've looked in this subforum in months. So feel free to change/replace stuff if it'll help with the writing.
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Johnathan "Michael" Garibaldi: Fifth-generation Italian-American, fourth-generation NYPD, John Garibaldi is a veteran law-enforcement officer with twelve years on the force before he was forced to resign by a political scandal. He chose to take his expertise Up, after he heard about the formation of "Babylon .5", playing on the jokes that had often been made about his name's similarity to the television character.
Elisa Garibaldi: Michael's wife and a minor corporate heiress (a construction firm that, ironically enough, was one of several contracted by Rockhounds in setting up their Space Rock business), Elisa has become one of the senior civilian administrators aboard Babylon .5, effectively the "mayor" of the settlement. Cheerful and pragmatic, she enjoys life in space with an enthusiasm unusual in fendanes.
Thomas Garibaldi: Eldest son John and Elisa at 28, Thomas's departure from the NYPD was not nearly as political as his father's. After a confrontation with a gang resulted in Thomas' involuntary dunking in a barrel of contraband Handwavium, he was forced into medical retirement from the force. After two years of working private security and trying to get back in uniform, Thomas elected to join his father.
Joanna Garibaldi: Second child and now 26 (as of 2012), Joanna went into private business instead, working as a bail bondsman and occasional bounty hunter. She went to work straight out of high school, based on her father's training and reputation, and completed a bachelor's degree in criminal justice through online and night courses. In 2011 a bounty pursuit took her Up, and she tracked down her perp on Babylon .5, where she found her family doing quite well by themselves. Joanna now runs a small gun shop on the station, supplying small arms to those who feel the need to protect themselves and taking occasional cases as a private investigator. Rumor has it that she will be appearing on the 2013 season of Top Shot.
3-4 other kids open to be created...
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