The Vree

[hypatia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ShadowScout:

But their nation still spans only two systems (their Home system and one major colony). More, the Vree Guilds not interested in conquest, but in trade (and the occasional abduction

) So while they are one of the major races of the League, they are nowhere near the big 4 powers (Minbari, Centauri, EA, Narn)...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Did any source ever explain WHY the Vree abduct humans (and others I would imagine)?

I can certainly think of more productive things they could have used to test their technology! So what were they looking for?

(You can tell its a slow day at work, I keep posting to the same thread!)

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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo

 

[hypatia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kribu:
I think the Vree saucers are my favourite ships, right after the G'Quan cruisers, of course.

They are so... elegant in their round simplicity.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sorry, what did the G'Quan cruisers look like?


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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

You can have a sample of Narn Opera when you listen to the sounds Elric's holodemon played in Londo's quarters (while buying shares in spoo ranches with Londo's money).

As for G'Quan cruisers... they look similar to most Narn warships (except the fighters and the early T'Loth cruiser) but are the largest and most advanced.

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Canned flarn is a sacrilege.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited August 22, 2001).]

 

[hypatia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lennier:
You can have a sample of Narn Opera when you listen to the sounds Elric's holodemon played in Londo's quarters (while buying shares in spoo ranches with Londo's money).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I remember that. Thus Garibaldi's request that G'kar stop singing, since people thought he was being tortured!

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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo

 

[Kribu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hypatia:
Sorry, what did the G'Quan cruisers look like?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

As for the singing... yes, I see what you mean.

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"It's animal magnetism. What can I say?"
- G'Kar, A Tragedy of Telepaths

 

[Great_Dying]

Shadow Scout,
You are making me want to go and find the books for B5W again. I played for a while adn found the book on the Narn and Centauri war very fun to read.

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"No, they never end as tales," said Frodo. "But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later - or sooner." - Frodo to Sam in "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" The Two Towers, The Lord of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

 

[Emfeeli]

Granted, the vree are cool, at least their ships are, with their two different ships, and there rotating hull, but when you compare them to another of their league members the Brakiri, they just don't measure up. The Barkiri Cruisers are kick ass, at least looks wise. They are huge, as tall as a Minbari Cruiser, and we know how tall they are. I read somewhere that the ships are not very powerfull, but large, to make them give the impression that they are (I heard they are in fact quite fragile, and their weapons are anything but impressive). With this having been said, if a Brakiri Warship went up against a Vree flagship...who would come out victorious?

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"There is no memory with less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we resisted."
-Harlan Ellison quoting James Branch Cabell

 

[hypatia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ShadowScout:
Actually their situation is like this as of 2258:

They have two star systems under their control, Vreetan and Alzeral.


Spinward of them is the EA - not a good choice for anyone to tangle with, as we all know. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is an interesting question. Why didn't the Vree occupy the areas that Earth eventually occupied, since they had such a jump start on the technology? If they were abducting humans in the 1960's and before, why didn't they take advantage of their head start? We could not have fought back with our technology of the time. We're still not even on Mars.

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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>if a Brakiri Warship went up against a Vree flagship...who would come out victorious?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, depends (I have fought such battles in B5W...). A typical duel would be a Avioki Cruiser against a Xill Battle Saucer (the blue-grey post 2nd Season saucer)
The Vree are killers at close range, since their antimatter weapons do more damage the better their hit, which is easier the closer they are to the enemy... but their guns are inferior to the Brakiri gravitic weapons at long range, so if the Brakiri can keep the range open, they'll win. Trouble is, the Vree aren't so slow that this is easy, they just put all their efforts into defensive and close at top speed, until they can cut loose with hails of antimatter and blast their opponent to bits... and Brakiri are notoriously underarmed in the short-range department, so they can't respond with similar firepower. They do have nice armor, but can't take damage well... The Vree ships are also a bit fragile, but able to spread damage over a great area due to their unique saucer-shape construction, as well as able to pivot very quickly to face their enemy with an undamaged section. Weapons that penetrate deep into the enemy ship work best against the Vree, but Brakiri have no such weapons - they specialized in slow-firing long-ranged beams that spread their damage over the surface for their main heavy weapons.
In effect it depends on good tactics and a bit of luck - if the Brakiri make no mistakes, and get good results on their first few shots (especially hits to the Vree's propulsion systems are appreciated), they they will win. If they make mistakes and allow the Vree to close, they are plasma.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Why didn't the Vree occupy the areas that Earth eventually occupied...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Why should they? They are a race of merchants, they don't want to rule territories, they want other races to trade with. That's probably what the abductions are about, checking out future markets (though I'm unsure about the cattle thing...)

They also have lots or good real estate in their possesion (three habitable planets and a rich asteroid belt in their home system...), so why should they go and over-extend themselves by occupying other systems when there's enough room for their race in the systems they hold? (Of course, eventually they will run out of room there, and then they may go and abduct a star system or two

)
But for now they seem to be content with staying in their two systems and being the biggest merchantile empire in the whole league (though the Pak'ma'ra as "Truckers of the Galaxy" as one human was said to have called them come close... even if they don't manage their affairs as prudently, and therefore can't beat the Vree in therms of making profit - their merchant fleet matches the Vrees...)

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"ShadowScout"
Roman Alexander

"Go on, watch out for Shadows - we'll watch you right back!"

What do you want?
ShadowShips!

 

[Emfeeli]

I remember two types of vree ships. Basic. the same size, one had gun turrets on the top and bottom and had orange lights, and another that had its weapon on the bottom, and was gray and blue--both with rotating hull. Is this my imagination, or maybe two races? If they were around the same size, why would the vree build two different ship models? This seems quite impractical.


Phil

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"There is no memory with less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we resisted."
-Harlan Ellison quoting James Branch Cabell

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

The orange one seemed to be smaller, so it could be a ship meant for different purposes.

It could also be an outdated model -- but too numerous to be discarded at once. The large & flat Centauri battlecruisers (Primus class) are also a very old ship design.

But the Centauri equip them with new carpets, brevari and photocopiers... and perhaps some mass drivers. Such upgrades are relatively easy to make (as contrary to hull or propulsion systems).

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"We are the universe, trying to figure itself out.
Unfortunately we as software lack any coherent documentation."
-- Delenn

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>I remember two types of vree ships...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You remember right.
The Xorr War Saucer is the slightly smaller, grey & yellow ship with the gun turrets. It's an older design, in service since 2210, but not so old that is isn't used anymore - it was their main warship during the Dilgar war, similar to EA's Hyperion...
The Xill Battle Saucer is the blue & grey thing armed with the new "Antimatter Shredder", in service since 2258. It's one of the newest Vree designs, similar to EA's Omega...


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>If they were around the same size, why would the vree build two different ship models? This seems quite impractical.
________________________________________

It could also be an outdated model -- but too numerous to be discarded at once.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Exactly. Especially when they still work - though after the Xill becomes available they get shuffled to the units with the less glamorous jobs... Raider Patrol, etc. The front-line combat units get first dibs at new construction, and fly Xill - as seen in the show.

Remember the Vree are a merchant race - they won't stop using ships just because they're a bit old (if I think of what some human companies still use in such cases... oil tankers that should've been junked years ago, but the ones in charge are determined to wring out every last cent while cutting back on maintendence to maximize profit until someting gives) - they just use them in second-line duty...


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>The large & flat Centauri battlecruisers (Primus class) are also a very old ship design.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually... the Primus is not That old - the current version is in service since 2201. The Centauri are flying older ships - like the Vorchan with an ISD of 2160... though this one is in the precess of being replaced with the Demos since 2241 (looks just like the Vorchan, but is a new construction insteda of a refit and has an improved weapon suite with an additional "Ballistic Torpedo Launcher" - the small balls that fly toward Drazi ships and blow them up in season-5...).
And during the Narn-Centauri war the Centauri were seen using completely outdated hulls they took from mothballs directly into battle - these reserves of ships were what made the war go so badly for the narn, since They didn't have any reserves to call upon, and therefore were hurt much more by battle losses... and even though these hulls were outdated ships hastily refitted with modern weapons (some with an ISD as far back as 2047), they still were dangerous on the battlefield, and their numbers offset their inferior systems (many were reactivated in haste, and still had malfunctions that degraded their battlefield value... but not enough)

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"ShadowScout"
Roman Alexander

"Go on, watch out for Shadows - we'll watch you right back!"

What do you want?
ShadowShips!

 

[Emfeeli]

Damn Shadowship...you know a lot about league ships. Is this from B5 Wars? Oh yeah and those ballistic missiles that the centauri had in S5 were sweet. They dessimated the drazi before they were even in firing range.


Phil

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"There is no memory with less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we resisted."
-Harlan Ellison quoting James Branch Cabell

"Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' we are not that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
-- Alfred Lord Tennyson
A poem left by Jeff Sinclair for John Sheridan

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>you know a lot about league ships. Is this from B5 Wars?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Of course... where else

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh yeah and those ballistic missiles that the centauri had in S5 were sweet. They dessimated the drazi before they were even in firing range.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yup. But note that the Drazi got their missiles off first - not that it did them much good since none got past Centauri interception fire. Actually the range of the Ballistic Torpedo is on the low end for ballistics - the Narn Energy Mine or their Ion Torpedos for example can hit at twice this range... The real strength of the BT is that it can "store" up to six shots and fire them all at once - at the same or different targets. It makes for an impressive alpha strike... especially since the Demii usually fly around in "Wolfpacks".
Though I have to admit that in the game the BT's are not quite as effective as in the show - the stats were "downpowered" so this weapon won't unbalance the game too much (something that seems common to centauri systems in B5W... -sigh-)

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"ShadowScout"
Roman Alexander

"Go on, watch out for Shadows - we'll watch you right back!"

What do you want?
ShadowShips!