Hyperion Class Heavy Cruiser III - Babylon 5 by Martechi on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

For decades, the Hyperion Cruiser has formed the solid core of the Earth Alliance Fleet. Since its introduction, variants of the class have taken part in every major interstellar conflict involving the Earth Alliance. Since the 2240s, the Hyperion is seen as the quintessential Earth-warship by humans and aliens alike.

The frame of the Hyperion-class is hardy and versatile, lending itself well to be adapted into a number of specialized variants, ranging from multipurpose weapons platforms to ground support. The common Theta-variant of the 2240s has proven best suited for service in the outer Alliance sectors, operating in border areas to neutral space and League territories. As a jump-capable capital ship, its strategic flexibility and independence from jump gates are valuable assets to the fleet in those regions especially.

Due to its long and widespread service, the Hyperion has become one of the most refined starships, and its construction, maintenance, and repairs are optimized throughout Earth Alliance space. Several prototypes of next-generation cruisers were proposed, but failed to improve on its performance enough to justify the exorbitant costs of replacing the well-established Hyperion. The closest contender in recent years has been the Omega-Class Destroyer, but there are no plans to have it entirely replace the Hyperion in the foreseeable future.

Design

> Compartentalization

The key to the Hyperion's design is the compartmentalization expressed on every level, from the segmented hull configuration to modular system components. Its emphasis on self-contained systems affords the Hyperion-class two major advantages:

>> Resilience

Because all systems are designed to function as independently of one another as possible, the danger of critical failure cascades is greatly reduced. Malfunctioning components can be easily circumvented, and their tasks distributed to other independent systems, allowing not for a much faster damage response.

Individual power sources, life-support units, munition stores, and computation nodes are some examples of compartmentalized systems that are dynamically activated and connected according to situational needs.

>> Repair and replacement

In fully integrated designs, interdependencies of systems often require the whole vessel to be shut down for repairs to be conducted on just a single component. This is a problem the Hyperion-class avoids with its modular systems design. Damaged components can be quickly swapped out for replacements, so that the vessel can continue active operations while the damaged part is assessed and repaired in an external facility.

In extreme cases, this also allows the fleet to scrap two heavily damaged ships and merge their remaining components into a single new vessel faster than individual repairs would have taken.

> Redundancies

The second guiding principle of the Hyperion's design is a strong reliance on fail-safes and redundancies. Every component of the vessel exists in multiple secondary iterations, allowing

primary systems to continue to function even after widespread heavy damage is sustained.

To coordinate this multitude of redundant systems, the Hyperion relies on a number of secondary command nodes. These allow command staff to effectively control the vessel from every part of the ship. An additionally high degree of automation ensures the vessel's short-term function, even if a significant portion of the crew may be incapacitated or cut-off from direct access to vital parts of the ship.

Historical note:

The overall resilience afforded to the Hyperion by its compartmentalization and redundancies added to the widespread reputation of humanity's fierce defiance during the Minbari war. In the eyes of the non-human observers, EarthForce starships simply would not stop fighting, even after suffering what would have been fatal strikes to vessels of other races.

> Ship Size

For all their benefits, compartmentalized systems and redundancies require a lot of additional tonnage. Fully integrated and streamlined systems are naturally far more efficient and compact. To match even small vessels of their interstellar neighbors in utility and firepower, EarthForce vessels quickly had to grow to immense sizes. At more than one kilometer in length, the Hyperion-class is a prime example.

Historical note:

In building vessels of such sizes, the Earth Alliance takes full advantage of its industrial edge over most other younger races, owed to Sol's long isolation before first contact was made. While other species encountered expansionist neighbors early on in their development and were thrown into the interstellar age at a much earlier point in history, humanity had spent centuries growing its population and building industrial capacity.

Because of this, humanity could enter the galactic stage competitive with other major powers and make up for the technological primitiveness of its starships through sheer size.

> Low-gravity Design

Notably, the Hyperion-class features no sections equipped with artificial gravity. According to well established Earth Force conventions, the internal spaces of the Hyperion are therefore designed as low-gravity environments. Added features include padded bulkheads, webbing, guide rails, and security harnesses.

A lack of gravitic manipulation greatly constrains the maneuverability of starships, as rapid accelerations would quickly incapacitate, even kill the crew.

Consequently, the implementation of inertia-dampeners to shield certain compartments from external g-forces was a high priority for Earth Force.

Modern Hyperion-class starships have limited inertia dampeners that can be activated for short periods of time during battle, allowing the ship to better keep pace with alien vessels. Notably, these systems are not suited to create artificial gravity fields, however.

Engineering note:

A distinction should be made between three applications of gravitic manipulation technology.

Inertia dampeners shield a certain area from external g-forces, such as fast acceleration. Aside from protecting the crew, they are also useful to protect the skeletal structure of starships from excessive strain.

Artificial gravity simulates stable g-forces, such as the impression of one earth gravity on deck. This technology is significantly harder to implement and maintain permanently. For this reason, many Earth Force vessels and stations continue to rely on the much cheaper and less complicated rotating sections.

Gravimetric drives are the most sophisticated application of gravitic manipulation, but surprisingly common among League ships. These are often reverse-engineered from Centauri designs and used for their relative energy efficiency and small size.

> Crewed Compartments

Despite its immense size, crew conditions aboard the Hyperion-class are cramped at best. Only a fraction of the huge internal volume is accessible to humans at all, and of that only a small portion is kept permanently pressurized and heated for habitation. The majority of the ship's internals are taken up by machinery that is kept at function-specific temperatures, and maintenance teams will often don space-suits even for inspection of remote sections without ever leaving the vessel's hull.

The maintenance shafts and companionways of the Hyperion are vast and labyrinthine. A lot of day-to-day maintenance relies on automated robots and drones, with human intervention being a last resort.

Babylon 5 fanart by Martechi