Babylon 4: The Station
Babylon 4 is a 10 km long cylindrical station in orbit around the planet Epsilon III. It has some thrusters to help it maintain a stable orbit, but it is mostly immobile. The Epsilon jumpgate is located nearby, also in orbit so that it remains a fixed distance from the station at all times.
Babylon 4 has two rotating carousels: an inner cylinder and an outer shell that rotate in opposite directions to create spin gravity from the centrifugal effect.
Since gravity pulls outward towards the hull, the floors inside are curved into concentric circles and arranged around the central spine of the station, so that "up" is towards the centre of the station and "down" is towards the hull.
The station is organised into coloured sectors, with each sector being dedicated to a particular industry. Each sector is also divided into numbered floors, with the lowered numbered floors being towards the centre and higher numbered floors being closer to the hull. Locations in Babylon 4 are designated by their sector and floor number, for example "Blue-3" is the third floor in the Blue sector.
A spine runs down the centre of the whole station providing structural support, and attached around its edges are trams that can carry passengers from one end of the station to the other.
Computer terminals are found in every room and at regular intervals along hallways, they display the BABCOM system which allows users to bring up the station map, send messages, or perform basic queries for information. This can be done through the touchscreen or by issuing voice commands, BABCOM has a basic AI that can respond to simple queries like “Dim the lights” or “What time is the Narn Ambassador scheduled to arrive?”. Information can be copied to and from terminals using data crystals.
Blue Sector
Floors: 30
Blue Sector is the forward-most section of the station and contains sections dedicated to the running and operation of the station, as well as the docking facilities, and the crew quarters for the command staff. At the centre of the sector is the docking bay shaft which leads into loading bays and the immigration areas.
C&C
C&C or Command and Control is the central hub for controlling the operational systems of the station, acting like a bridge on a spaceship crossed with a control room.
Computers around the room run software called “E-Systems” which displays information about ships arriving and departing, the status of the life support systems, provide access to communications systems, and control the defence grid which protects the station if it gets attacked. E-Systems can also be used to perform scans for energy energy signatures and life signs.
A window at one end looks out onto space and from there the staff can see incoming ships and the jump gate in the distance. In emergency situations, a blast door closes to cover the observation window and protect those in C&C.
Access to C&C is heavily restricted to Earth Alliance command staff and operations personnel.
Docking and Immigration
Ships arriving at Babylon 4 enter the station through a large opening in the centre of the forward end. From there the ship’s crew are expected to turn over control of their ship to the automated systems in C&C which guide the ship to a docking bay. This is because trying to manually fly through the cramped internal tunnels is extremely dangerous and only a computer can make the precise adjustments necessary.
The docking bays are usually referred to by number (e.g. “Bay 13”) and there are enough to hold hundreds of ships at one time, they take up a lot of the space in Blue Sector. The station can accommodate most small and medium class ships, but larger visiting ships have to park outside and send their crew across in shuttles.
From the docking bays, crew can disembark and enter the station through an immigration area where they go through a customs and security checkpoint. Their identicard is checked before they can enter, those without an identicard are denied entry, while those with a criminal record may be arrested and handed over to the appropriate authorities.
Security Central
The station’s security division operates from this location and it serves a bit like a police station. It includes a desk for the Chief of Security and second in command and computer systems for issuing security alerts and running background checks. Other rooms nearby are set aside for security personnel to hot-desk, and the brig provides cells for temporarily storing prisoners before they are shipped off station to whichever world has jurisdiction.
Access is restricted to security personnel.
Medlab One
The station's primary and largest medlab facility and where the Chief Medical Officer usually works. Medlab One is usually used for the most critical or important cases, as well as for research.
It includes an Isolab which is a pressurised room separated from the rest of medlab by an airlock. It can be used to isolate patients and its atmosphere can be adjusted to suit different alien biologies.
Staff Quarters
Command and operational staff have living quarters in Blue Sector. This area is restricted to the people living there and by invitation. The quarters are some of the largest on the station, which is not saying much, space is a limited resource and all quarters on the station are fairly small.
Cobra Bays
Located in rows around the hull of Blue Sector, just near where it joins Red Sector, the Cobra Bays are the storage and launch facilities for the station's squadrons of starfuries, 20 small fighter craft that can be deployed to protect the station against hostile forces.
Each bay is a room just large enough for a single starfury and for a pilot to enter and climb inside. When deployed, the outer door in the hull opens and clamps release the starfury, the spin gravity of the station does the rest, throwing the ship out of the station.
Sanctuary
A large observation room located on the outermost edge of Blue Sector’s hull, with windows surrounding half the room that provide an impressive view of the stars.
The room is usually open to the public but can be booked for private functions and ceremonies.
Red Sector
Floors: 30
Red Sector is the station’s commercial district and contains space rented out to businesses as well as containing most of the station’s recreational areas. It runs from Green Sector back to about half way towards the back of the station.
The Zócalo
The station's largest open air market, a wide thoroughfare that runs around the whole hub of Red Sector, the passage lined with stalls and shops from dozens of different worlds. Some of the businesses are permanent fixtures while others are small pop-up shops that come and go. Anything that can be acquired legally on Babylon 4 can be purchased at the Zócalo, and a few illegal things are available as well for those that know the right person to talk to.
Medlab Two
The second largest medlab facility on the station, medlab two is a utilitarian facility with a focus on providing standard medical care to as many people as possible, compared to medlab one that often deals with the more exotic cases.
Judiciary
The station’s judiciary centre is where the law is upheld and justice is carried out. It contains courtrooms, Ombuds chambers, law offices, and temporary holding cells for prisoners awaiting trial. The courts here operate according to Earth law, but the Ombudsman may rule that an issue is beyond the scope of Earth’s jurisdiction, in which case the prisoner is usually transferred to the appropriate world for trial according to their laws.
Hotels
Red Sector contains many hotels that provide short term accommodation for people only visiting the station for a few days.
Casinos, Bars & Restaurants
There are several casinos, bars and restaurants scattered throughout Red Sector, ranging from fancy and high class establishments towards the centre to rougher and more dangerous locations closer to the hull.
Function Rooms
Red Sector contains several large function rooms that can be rented for special occasions and ceremonies. The most impressive of these is the Rotunda, a large circular room with a vaulted ceiling and windows that look out onto the gardens of Green Sector.
The Post Office
Snail mail still exists and the Earthforce Postal Service has its headquarters in Red Sector. They ship packages to and from the station, charging a fee for every package delivered.
Green Sector
Floors: 60
Green Sector is the largest of the station’s habitable areas, encompassing the entire outer carousel and the centre of the inner one. It contains large open areas lit by artificial sunlight to grow plants. It’s also where the majority of the station's inhabitants live.
Council Chambers
This meeting room is where the Babylon 4 Advisory Council meets to discuss issues affecting all the different governments. Seats at one end provide space for the representatives of the major governments: The Earth Alliance, Centauri Republic, Minbari Federation, Narn Regime, and Vorlon Empire. At the other end of the room tiers of seats are provided for the representatives of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.
Ambassadorial Sector
This section of Green Sector is dedicated to the station's ambassadors and contains their personal quarters as well as areas pressurised with different atmospheres to simulate alien biospheres. Access to this section is heavily restricted to the Ambassadors and their staff.
Each Ambassador’s quarters is considered to belong to their government, to be “foreign soil” where their laws apply instead of those of the station.
Alien Sector
A section dedicated to providing living quarters to aliens that cannot breathe in an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. It is divided into different subsections, each with their own dedicated environments and divided by airlocks.
Hydroponics and Gardens
Green Sector contains many gardens open to the public which provide not only a place of peace and quiet but also assist with maintaining the station's atmosphere. Some gardens also produce food and access to these is restricted to stational personnel, they cannot produce enough food to feed the whole station however so most of the food is brought in through trade.
Next to the Ambassadorial section is the Zen Garden, which provides a place of quiet and solitude, access is restricted to the ambassadorial staff and command staff and their guests.
Living Quarters
Most of the station’s inhabitants live in Green Sector and a large section is set aside for living quarters. They are mostly small single or double room apartments.
Brown Sector
Floors: 30
Occupying a section of the station towards the rear, behind Green Sector, Brown Sector is dedicated to the station's engineering, maintenance, and industrial facilities. Access to most of this sector is restricted to station personnel, however the outer levels are also the location of Downbelow.
Engineering and Maintenance
The central headquarters of the station’s engineering and maintenance staff are located in Brown Quarters and from here they can monitor many station systems and coordinate repairs where needed.
Life Support
The station's huge life support systems are located in Brown Sector, these enormous machines fill several levels and control all the different atmospheres needed for the station’s inhabitants. The air is recycled very efficiently with almost no loss and the station could survive for years without gas resupply.
Waste Reclamation
These facilities process waste of all sorts, some is processed into fertiliser for the gardens, water is recycled, and the rest is shipped out on trash barges.
Downbelow
Downbelow is a region of Brown Sector in the outermost levels right next to the hull, a disused and incomplete area of the station, it has become occupied by the station's homeless and desperate who are known as Lurkers.
The region is poorly maintained, full of crudely constructed shelters made from whatever scrap materials the Lurkers were able to scavenge. Crime is rampant and many sections are controlled by gangs and organised crime syndicates.
From time to time station security has attempted to clean it out but these attempts tend to disadvantage the people living there while the criminals just move to a new part of Downbelow.
Grey Sector
Floors: 30
Occupying the rear section of the station, Grey Sector is dedicated to the station's power generation. Access to this sector is heavily restricted.
Alpha Power Station
The station’s main source of power is a huge fusion reactor, taking up most of the centre of Grey Sector and crossing through 20 of the station’s 30 floors. Monitoring systems and maintenance stations surround it, with access being strictly limited to only some station personnel.
There are several smaller back up generators also located in this sector as well as several throughout the rest of the station, but these are suitable only for maintaining minimal life support in the case of an emergency.
Fuel Storage
Several large fuel tanks occupy Grey Sector, providing the fuel needed for the fusion reactor which is brought in from Earth Alliance space on cargo haulers.
Yellow Sector
Yellow Sector is different to all the others, instead of being a single region of the station, the name is used to refer to any part of the station permanently in Zero G. These sections are scattered throughout the station and so there are parts of Yellow Sector all over the place.
Since these regions tend to be outside the carousels, they also usually don’t have floors or the same numbering system, instead simply being referred to by their purpose.
Central Spine
The Central Spine runs through the heart of the station, providing the main structural supports and housings for conduits to carry power throughout the sectors. Since it runs down the centre of the station it has no spin gravity.
Anchored at several points along the spine are the huge engines that spin the carousels, one at each end and several in the middle to distribute the forces. The two carousels spin in opposite directions, their speeds carefully controlled to cancel each other out so that the station as a whole stays stable.
Radiator Panels
The huge panels extending from the rear of the station are not solar panels, but rather radiators designed to carry the heat generated by the station away into space. Without these, the heat would build up and the station's interior would overheat.
Cargo Elevators
Large elevators run along the spine, transporting cargo from one end of the station to the other in Zero G.
Observation Arms
Several observation decks extend from the forward end of the station on long arms into space, providing a place for maintenance to examine the exterior, and watching incoming ships. However their primary purpose was to assist with the initial construction of the station and they are rarely used now.
Defence Grid
Mounted all along the outside of the station are turrets designed to protect the station in the event of an attack. These turrets fold up into the body of the station and are protected by blast doors when not in use. When the defence grid is activated, the doors open and the turrets emerge, ready to fire on any approaching hostile ship.
General
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