Babylon 4 was the fourth and largest space station built under the Babylon Project.
Physical Arrangement[]
Partly constructed from materials recycled from the earlier Babylon stations, Babylon 4 also possessed engines that allowed the station to be moved from place to place, although this was a very slow process due to its size.
The station featured two carousels rotating in opposite directions, presumably balanced to bring the net rotation of the entire mass closer to zero, making it much easier to move and maneuver the station.
History[]
Babylon 4 disappeared into a spacetime anomaly 24 hours after coming online in 2254.
Reappearing in its original location in July 2258, the crew was rescued by Babylon 5 personnel, shortly after which the station disappeared again. Sector 14 was declared off-limits after these events.
After the crew was rescued, Jeffrey Sinclair took Babylon 4 to the Earth year 1260. Sinclair contacted the Vorlons Kosh Naranek and Ulkesh Naranek on his arrival and with them on board, he used the Chrysalis device to transform himself into a Minbari named Valen. Thus, Valen was "A Minbari not born of Minbari."
Babylon 4 nearly 1000 years after its abandonment
Arriving after the Minbari's base of operations had been destroyed during the First Shadow War, Valen provided the Minbari with Babylon 4 as their new headquarters. When the war was over, the station was abandoned.
For over 900 years the station lay dormant, guarded by the Tak'cha, who referred to it as Ende X'Ton ("the lost station") which they believed to be a holy place. In 2261 it was found floating adrift in Sector 730 by 12 by 9 by John Sheridan, Delenn, Michael Garibaldi, and Susan Ivanova. Within 48 hours of rediscovering the station, Babylon 4 burned up in the atmosphere of the planet it was orbiting.
Apocrypha[]
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The following is based on The Mongoose Publishing RPG books and contradicts canon sources. |
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Babylon 4 was known to the Minbari as "Intiera'zhe" (the Star of Hope). During the space station's long journey back in time, the Vorlons had used the time to make some modifications to the station. Its defence grid was primed and empowered by Vorlon science, as a result of which each gun could punch through the hull of a Shadow cruiser. It was on this station that Valen created the Grey Council and established the Anla'shok.
The station served as the Minbari fleet's base and the headquarters of its command staff. Once it became the Minbari forward command base, the station underwent further modifications, this time by the Minbari. New weapon systems were installed to supplement the station's arsenal, most of which were mounted on its rotating sections. They added hangar bays to the station, and a powerful tachyon communication system was installed to give it the ability to instantly communicate with anyone anywhere in the Minbari Federation. In the process the size of the station was increased by 50%, the extra room being for the superior reactor that was installed to provide power to its defense and attack grids.
- Weapons: 2 superheavy neutron lasers, 20 neutron lasers, 10 fusion cannons, 8 electro-pulse guns, and 8 modified Interceptors
- Auxiliary Craft: 48 Nial heavy fighters, 12 combat flyers, 10 ex-human cargo loaders, 50 ex-human maintenance bots, and 25 ex-human maintenance pods.
Notes[]
At the time of its disappearance, Babylon 4 had not yet been assigned a permanent commanding officer; Major Lewis Krantz, an EarthForce Marine Corps officer, was assigned to oversee the final stages of construction. [2]
Valen would often sit in Babylon 4's Zen Garden, mirroring his visits to Babylon 5's Zen Garden when he was Jeffrey Sinclair.[1]
Sources[]
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