Death Squadron in B5

[Crazedwraith]

Why would star destroyers have years of supplies? If calculations from the films are to be believed they can reach anywhere in the galaxy in a day, Given that kind of speed there's no reason at all to build years of endurance into your starships.

Certain stores such a tibanna gas from gas giants might well not exist in B5 and where does anyone even get hypermatter from in the first place?

[Ted C]

Why would star destroyers have years of supplies? If calculations from the films are to be believed they can reach anywhere in the galaxy in a day, Given that kind of speed there's no reason at all to build years of endurance into your starships.

While I agree with you, people are saying that they carry at least a few years of stores. I wouldn't mind seeing a source for the claim, though.

As for hypermatter, it may be a fuel that is inherently long-lasting, like the uranium in a nuclear reactor. The fuel rods in a modern nuclear warship are good for years, as far as I know.

[Batman]

The original WEG HTTE sourcebook gave ISDs six years worth of consumables which would presumably include fuel. Dreadnought heavy cruiser 2 years, same for the dinky little Nebulon B and the MC80a.

[Darksider]

six years at what rate of consumption? Normal patrol duties wouldn't require as much fuel as charging up the heavy turbolasers to lay waste to entire fleets.

[Tandrax218]

Yeah i would totally support Vader if i was a human in the B5 universe.

I mean he is basically a "Humanity FU** Yeah" kind of guy, and definitely something the humans there need.

Forget the prospect of dialog and mutual understandings, those things are dreams

[Batman]

[quote[six years at what rate of consumption? Normal patrol duties wouldn't require as much fuel as charging up the heavy turbolasers to lay waste to entire fleets.[/quote]
That's be the part where I said they'd probably be okay for a while if they could refrain from BDZing people?
And frankly I don't see any reason for them to fire up the HTLs other than dickwaving. About the only thing in the B5verse that can hurt an ISD is the Vorlon planetkiller. They can off YR fleets (including the Minbari) with LTLs.

[Sidewinder]

Why would star destroyers have years of supplies? If calculations from the films are to be believed they can reach anywhere in the galaxy in a day, Given that kind of speed there's no reason at all to build years of endurance into your starships.

What if the starship needs to do something once it reaches its destination?

One example would be mapping a newly discovered star system. Because it's newly discovered, you can't use hyperdrives within the system itself, or you might crash into a planet or large asteroid's "gravity shadow." So you must jump to the star system's outer edge, and then use sublight propulsion to go into it, logging each planetary body's location and tracking its orbit as you go.

A second example would be enforcing a blockade, like the one the Trade Federation imposed on Naboo in 'The Phantom Menace'. That means staying in orbit for months or years, intercepting each and every single unidentified starship that tries to approach the planet, each and every single unidentified aerospace craft that tries to leave orbit, until the blockade is lifted.

Other examples can be found. SW starships need supplies for the same reasons contemporary naval vessels need supplies, even if these naval vessels can magically fly through the air like the Concorde SST.

[Esquire]

They've got FTL sensors and enough hyper-capable probe droids that the plan for finding the rebels was to shoot a couple at every planet in the sector and see what reported back; mapping isn't going to be a huge problem. Similarly, FTL sensors and hyperdrive mean that blockading a planet can be done from the edge of the star system. An ISD carries a hundred or so small craft. Why would you use a major warship for scouting duties when there are clouds of fighters and shuttles sitting right there?

[Sidewinder]

Why would you use a major warship for scouting duties when there are clouds of fighters and shuttles sitting right there?

Because those fighters and shuttles need to be refueled and repaired, and the pilots need rest. A Star Destroyer is a convenient place to put the facilities needed to refuel and repair fighters and shuttles, and for the pilots to rest. Or will you still call the TIE a "fighter" once you scale up the fuselage to include a toilet, a shower, storage for rations and potable water, and fuel tanks large enough to let the TIE reach from one planet to another?

[Esquire]

What kind of a scale are you thinking on? From Wookiepedia, a TIE fighter accelerates at 4,100g; it would take one about six and a half hours to get from Earth to Mars starting from rest. How long do you think a wing of them will take to figure out where all the planets in a system are? Particularly since, again, FTL sensors. Mapping a system does not, or at least really shouldn't require time-consuming physical searches - if they can find derelict starships at interstellar ranges, which comes up in several EU things, they can find planets pretty trivially.

[Isolder74]

Or will you still call the TIE a "fighter" once you scale up the fuselage to include a toilet, a shower, storage for rations and potable water, and fuel tanks large enough to let the TIE reach from one planet to another?

They do have the Tie Scout. It does have all of those things.


Also you don't have to feed Probe Droids for use as scouting. I'm also pretty sure that Garrison Bases include facilities for developing resources and for outpost to gain needed supplies. I'm not sure if the Death Squadron has construction and manufacturing droids.

[cmdrjones]

Because SW hyperspace and B5 hyperspace are different dimensions, new terms should be invented to differentiate them. My idea was to use "hyperspace layer Alpha" or "Alphaspace" to describe B5 hyperspace, and "hyperspace layer Omega" or "Omegaspace" to describe SW hyperspace.

consider this stolen