I followed the link back to its source at Planetside Scenarios, where the following scenario was presented: Who would win in a battle between Babylon 5's White Star and Deep Space 9's USS Defiant?
I don't know, but here are my thoughts.
Armament
Defiant has autofire phasers and quantum torpedoes. They take care of pretty much any opposition they have to face, and it's understood that the Defiant could decimate the surface of a planet (e.g., the Founders' homeworld) if the occasion required.
The White Star has a variety of directed energy weapons that can be fired either in short bursts or in a continuous beam. They handle small and mid-sized ships pretty well, but have difficulty taking out the Shadows' capital ships without help.
Advantage: Defiant
Defenses
The Defiant has the best shields Starfleet has to offer, plus ablative hull plating. The ship is hard to puncture, bit if it ever happens, you have to hope those emergency force fields hold out.
The White Star doesn't have shields—that technology doesn't exist in the B5 universe. Instead, the ship is covered in an advanced organic technology skin. This skin is self-repairing, and it learns from each encounter and adapts to new attacks.
Advantage: White Star
Propulsion System
The Defiant features standard Federation warp drive. This allows for quick jumps to warp speeds and faster-than-light maneuvering in normal space.
The White Star accesses hyperspace through its own jump engines, a feature rarely found on vessels so small. The jump points take a few moments to form, but once the White Star enters, ships without their own jump engines can't follow it.
Advantage: Defiant
Maneuverability
It appears that the design of the Defiant is still heavily influenced by its earthbound roots. The ship is quick and nimble, but it has to bank in order to turn in flight.
The White star can spin 180ยบ on its axis while allowing momentum to carry it on its original course. When needed, the ship can stop, turn, or change direction almost instantly.
Advantage: White Star
Stealth
The Defiant carries a top-level Romulan cloaking device, rendering it virtually undetectable even if the enemy knows what to look for.
The White Star employs no stealth technology.
Advantage: Defiant...unless the White Star is carrying a telepath, which might even the odds a bit.
Accommodations
The Defiant is built like a submarine. The quarters are cramped, the beds are hard, and the medical bay is woefully undersized. Every cubic centimeter is dedicated to the purpose of making the ship as tough as possible, even if it makes it uncomfortable for the crew to operate there.
The White Star is roomy and tastefully lit, but the beds are all slanted because the Minbari are superstitious about sleeping horizontally (it's too much like being dead). In addition, the only way on or off the ship is by shuttle, because transporter technology doesn't exist in the B5 universe either.
Advantage: Neither.
General Technology Level
The Defiant was built to fight the Borg and includes the finest battle tech that Starfleet (with help from the Romulan Empire) can produce.
The White Star was designed jointly by the Minbari (who were already a starfaring race during the last Shadow war 1000 years ago) and the Vorlons (who have been watching over the younger races for something like a million years).
Advantage: White Star
So who wins? I don't have a clue. But I'd love to see the two in battle—as allies. Borg, Shadows, Dominion...whatever. It wouldn't matter. Before these two heavy hitters, the enemy wouldn't stand a chance. I'm reminded of a line from B5 first officer Susan Ivanova:
"Vakar Ashok, our gun arrays are now fixed on your ship and will fire the instant you come into range. You will find their power quite impressive... for a few seconds."
1 comment:
Defiant wins. If you're unsure about this, ask around on bbs.stardestroyer.net (where an army of uber-nerds with engineering degrees have actually done the math on every sci-fi matchup you can think of).
Of course, accomodations don't matter. It's a battle, not a Zagat review.
The White Star has zero armor by Trek standards. This whole idea of organic technology is a fad which has nothing to do with any actual science. 'Learning' won't give the White Star's hull any new materials to work with, and it won't have time to adapt anyway.
The Defiant's weapons carry nuclear weapon-level yields in each shot. Since a much more powerful Minbari cruiser was destroyed by John Sheridan using one nuke, you can expect a near miss by the Defiant to literally vaporize the White Star. Power differences like that also factor out maneuverability, although I don't know if the White Star's sublight speeds compare to those of the Defiant.
Shame - it's a lovely ship. But virtually nothing in the B5 universe could stand toe-to-toe with the Defiant. Pitting the White Star against a runabout or the Delta Flyer would be a fairer contest.
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