Starblade
cruiser
Ships and politics
With a majority in the Grey Council, the Master caste was finally able to be much more active. The founding of the Interstellar Alliance and its subsequent expansion brought great economic benefits to Minbar. Funding for the Alliance was provided by the majority of its members, and the direct benefit went to those who built ships for it. And since Minbar had the most advanced technology, the payment for the construction of the new Rangers fleet went mostly to the Federation treasury.
John Sheridan tried to balance this situation by involving other races (mostly Earth) in the development of new ships. This is how the prototypes of the cruiser “Valen” and the heavy destroyer “Victory” came to be. There were difficulties with both projects, not only because of outside interference, but also because of problems of technology adaptation. However, the Earth, which felt the benefits, did not want to miss such an opportunity.
Ships and priorities
In the meantime, the Master caste had time to develop their own version of a large ship, using already proven Minbari-Vorlon technology. The new cruiser was not as impressive as the Victory and did not have its firepower, but it seemed to be a reliable option.
After four prototypes were built in 2268, a political decision was made to build Victory-class destroyers, and Minbar was tasked with creating ships for the President and other top officials of the Interstellar Alliance. In the end, 3 Starblade class cruisers were given to the Rangers as fire support in dangerous areas. One ship remained with the Master caste as an experimental base.
Minbar in a rage
After the Battle of Minbar, when Minbari society angrily demanded a defense that no enemy could penetrate. The Grey Council supported the wishes of the people and reactivated many weapons programs that were in the archives. The Starblade cruiser was one of them. Starting in 2340, ships of this class began to enter service for the Rangers and the Minbari fleet.
Technical data
Lentgh
1050 meters
Width
578 meters
Height
173 meters
Artificial gravity
Available
Crew
108 rangers
Troop
up to 50 rangers
Engines
4 gravimetric engines
Power
2 quantum-gravimetric reactors
Hyperspace drive
Available
Duration
25 years
Maneuverability
Class B+
Maneuvering in the atmosphere possible
Weapon
- 1 adapted Vorlon heavy quantum cannon
- 4 pulse neutron cannons
- 8 pulse fusion cannons
Fighters
- 6 Nial class fighters / hybrids / drones
Defense
- 3.6-6.9 meters of reinforced Vorlon bio-armored hull
- tractor beams
- Vorlon shields
- Minbari stealth device
Reconnaissance assets
- 10 reconnaissance probes
- 5 autonomous robotic scouts
Transports
- 1 shuttle
Presence in the fleet
As of 2341, there were a total of 8 ships of this class in service. Construction continues as Minbar prepares for war.
Development
Idea: Amras Arfeiniel
Author: Amras Arfeiniel
Year: ???
Description: Years ago, Amras created a very beautiful ship design for the Interstellar Alliance. This ship is well known among Babylon 5 fans. Thanks to our long-time acquaintance and because Amras is a great guy, we got a specially prepared model from him, and also convinced him to reclassify his gunboat into a cruiser (to decide on the size), as well as finally give it a name. One of the options was “Starfire”. However, it turned out that there is already a rangers ship (Advanced Whitestar) with this name on the net. I had to rename this one. So “Starblade” appeared, as part of the “Babylon 6” universe.