Temporal Mechanics |
"Scientific people know very well that Time is only a kind of Space." |
|
|
The technology that can manipulate time, however, is present within the Great Machine on Epsilon 3. The Machine dedicates itself to the production of an intense tachyon field. This field in turn "punches a hole" in time-space, creating a rift. To properly enter and exit this field, and to also manipulate time as well as distance, specialized equipment is necessary. Stabilizers must be worn by biological entities, and modifications must be made to starships. Unprotected beings within the time field experience "The Flashes," or brief moments where the conscious mind travels forwards or backwards in time. A curious nature about the Flashes is that only the mind is relocated. A person's consciousness finds itself in its body wherever it is at that time, either in the past or future. Flashes are different for each individual, some travel backwards, other go forward in time. If a person enters a time field, there is a high chance that he will die of old age. Even if one does enter and leave a time field without adverse effects, should that same person enter a field again death would be instantaneous upon exiting (although wearing a stabilizer will lesson the effect to simply aging the person several years). |
|
|
time travellers. Individual time stabilizers are delicate hand-held machines. Should the device become damaged, the wearer is "lost in time;" phasing in and out of time streams and inhabiting past and future version of his or herself. |
|
|
The Shadow War was going badly. Overwhelming numbers of Shadowships blasted world after world. The meager alliance of alien races did not have the firepower to engage the Shadow forces in the open. Telepaths were few in number and barely adequate to stave off a fraction of the enemy. Facing an imminent attack, Entil'zha Sinclair returned to Babylon 5 to assist in the station's defense. The Shadows sliced through the few defending ships with ease. Boarding vessels clamped onto the hull. Knowing the situation was hopeless, Security Chief Garibaldi rigged the station's fusion reactors to blow. The first target to die was Captain Sheridan, assassinated in plain view by invisible attackers. Commander Ivanova remained at her post in C&C sending distress calls to anyone who would hear. The entire station was in chaos with Shadows and their minions burning through level by level slaughtering all they encountered. Sinclair, while wanting to stay, was dragged into a waiting shuttlecraft in the hope that he could continue to fight. Shadow cruisers blasted the control center of the station just as a lone shuttle blasted out of the docking bay. The fusion reactors reached critical mass, searing the station and its attackers to oblivion. |
Comments, criticisms, suggestions, and additions welcome! Post them here. Babylon 5, characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks of Time Warner Entertainment Co., LP. ©1994-98 Time Warner Entertainment Co. All original text, artwork and page design ©1995-98 iNFiNiCorp Transgalactic/Christopher Russo. |
|
|