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to T-Rob’s Sci-Fi Guide
A Guide to the heroes, villains, aliens, places, items and
adventures of sci-fi
Compiled by T. Rob Brown
F
- F-302: An advanced U.S. Airforce and alien hybrid starfighter
built for the SGC. Jack O’Neill is the most qualified pilot on the planet
for this craft. [SG1, SGA]
- Fashar, Ambassador: The Markab ambassador aboard Babylon
5 in 2259, Fashar objected to the tests for Drafa Plague performed on all
the station’s Markabs and said they questioned his people’s morality. As a
result, he decided to gather his people in the isolation zone to pray, repent,
and escape from the immorality of humans and other races. Fashar subsequently
died in the isolation zone along with the station’s Markabs. (CONFESSIONS)
[BAB5]
- feeder: See Na’ka’leen feeders. [BAB5]
- Felger, Dr. Jay: Creator of Avenger 2.0, a computer
virus named for a comic book hero, designed to scramble a DHD’s coordinates
and render a target stargate useless to the Goa’uld. Within hours, the entire
gate network shut down. [SG1]
- Ferdinand, Captain Ellasai, VI: An explorer and a man
of peace, Earth Alliance Captain Ellasai Ferdinand VI misunderstood the intentions
of a Minbari cruiser during first contact between the two worlds, and gave
orders to open fire on the ship. In the process, he killed the Minbari leader,
Dukhat. When the ship’s flight recorder information was erased as a result
of explosions during its attack on the Minbari, Capt. Ferdinand the Minbari
had fired first, thus justifying the Earth-Minbari War. (LAW) [BAB5]
- Finagle’s Place: Shop on Zocalo. [BAB5]
- fingal eggs: An alien delicacy. The Shakespeare Corporation
wanted to import final eggs to Babylon 5 but were stopped by Garibaldi, who
ruled they were a serious hazard to station security. (BELIEVERS) [BAB5]
- Fireflies Incorporated: An interstellar corporation.
Ambassador Mollari inadvertently purchased 500,000 shares in Fireflies Incorporated
when his data system was possessed by Elric’s holodemon. (GEOMETRY) [BAB5]
- Firestorm: See Franklin, General Richard. [BAB5]
- First Ones, The: Name given to vast and timeless beings
which predate humanity by billions of years. They explored beyond the Rim,
built empires, and taught the majority of the younger races as they emerged.
They also fought the Shadows, a race that existed even earlier than the First
Ones. Slowly, over a million years, the First Ones went away: Some passed
beyond the stars, never to return, while others just disappeared. In the mid-13th
century, the remaining First Ones joined a coalition of worlds, including
Minbari, to defeat the Shadows in a Great War. After the war, all the remaining
First Ones disappeared -- all except the Vorlons, who waited for the Shadows
to return. (Z’HA’DUM) [BAB5]
- flak jacket: Futuristic equivalent of a bulletproof
vest, worn by members of Babylon 5’s staff when they face a clear and present
danger. The jacket is lined with an outer layer of material able to refract
or absorb some of the impact of energy weapons. [BAB5]
- flarn: Minbari food. (CONFESSIONS) [BAB5]
- Flinn, Mr.: Human who claimed his grandfather, Amos,
was kidnapped by aliens and subjected to 48 hours worth of experiments aboard
their ship. Mr. Flinn traced the descendants of his grandfather’s captors
and tried to sue them for damages aboard Babylon 5. Ombuds Zimmerman was hardly
delighted to be assigned to the case. (Played by Babylon 5’s Director
of Photography, John Flinn.) (GRAIL) [BAB5]
- florazyne: An extremely-rare chemical, florazyne is
only found in one system, the Damocles Sector. In 2257, it was used by a Minbari
assassin to poison Ambassador Kosh. (GATHERING) [BAB5]cb
- flyer: Minbari shuttle. [BAB5]
- Flying Dutchman, The: An ancient sailing vessel
that disappeared while tryign to sail the Cape of Good Hope. Legend claims
the ship has been seen over the centuries trying to find its way home. Commander
Sinclair and Security Chief Garibaldi both likened Babylon 4 to the Flying
Dutchman. (SQUARED) [BAB5]
- foam protect: A form of shock-absorbing foam which
is used to protect passengers during crashes. (PRESENT) [BAB5]
- Fortress of Light: Term first used by Delenn
to describe Babylon 5’s role in the Shadow War. (TWILIGHT) [BAB5]
- Fosaro: A boxer supported by SportCorps. (TKO) [BAB5]
- Foster: A junior Earthforce officer assigned to Lieutenant-Commander
Sinclair during his search for covert human-alien activity on Mars, Foster
was killed when their shuttle crashed as a result of a systems malfunction.
(AGAINST) [BAB5]
- fosterage: The Centauri practice of surrogate parenting
and instruction, fosterage was extremely common in the early days of the Republic.
Although the custom had virtually died out by the mid-23rd century, it was
still allowed by Centauri law and to reject fosterage would be seen as an
act of defiance against tradition. In 2258, Ambassador Mollari arranged for
Kiron Maray and Aria Tensus to be fostered by his second cousin, Andilo. (PRAYER)
[BAB5]
- Foundation, The: A multi-alien religion started in
the mid-22nd century which believes in the concept of God, but does not attempt
to define it. Dr. Franklin is a Foundationalist. (Z’HA’DUM) [BAB5]
- "Frack": A curse word used by most humans
of the Colonies and even by the human-looking Cylons. [BG]
- Franklin, General Richard: An Earth Alliance war hero,
also known as "Firestorm," Gen. Richard Franklin fought in almost
all of Earthforce’s major offensives in the mid-23rd century, including the
Dilgar Invasion and the Earth-Minbari War. As a military career officer, he
spent most of his time away from his home and family on Earth. When he was
home, he would treat his five children (Stephen, Juanita, Maria, Celia, and
Kathy) like soldiers and used to tell Stephen that "You should be intelligent
enough to let someone else tell you what to do." Richard believed a man
who didn’t stand by his principles wasn’t a man at all, and didn’t raise his
son to say things he didn’t mean. All his life, Richard Franklin lived according
to the demands of duty rather than his wishes and desires. Consequently, he
was horrified when his son left Earth to hitchhike across the galaxy on a
sightseeing tour. The general believed Stephen was running away from his duty
and refused to talk to him until he joined Earthforce in the Earth-Minbari
War. Gen. Franklin arrived on Babylon 5 in 2259 with 25,000 troops required
for Operation: Sudden Death. Once aboard the station, Franklin made up his
differences with his son, Stephen. He told the young man he loved him and
apologized to him for the first time in his life. He then led the 356th Platoon
to victory in Matok. (Played by Paul Winfield.) Also see Operation:
Sudden Death. (GROPOS) [BAB5]
- Franklin, Dr. Stephen: Babylon 5’s chief medical officer,
Dr. Stephen Franklin was assigned to the station in 2258 following the departure
of Dr. Benjamin Kyle. The son of Gen. Richard Franklin, Stephen Franklin always
had a difficult relationship with his father. Stephen believed "Firestorm"
always put Earthforce first and everything else, including his children, second.
As a result, the general was nearly always away on some Earthforce mission,
leaving his wife, his son, and four daughters, Juanita, Maria, Celia, and
Kathy, to worry about him. When he was home, Richard treated his children
like soldiers and taught them to tidy their rooms with military precision.
His son later revealed he was scared that if he didn’t follow orders, he would
be expelled from the platoon! As the years went by, Stephen Franklin became
increasingly resentful of having to wait for and worry about his father. He
also criticized him for killing aliens, saying he should at least try to build
a relationship with them. (GROPOS) Franklin was 17 when he traveled on his
first transport, which was on the Moon-Mars run. While aboard the ship, one
of his friends started to fool around in one of its airlocks and accidentally
opened the doorway into space. Franklin was powerless to help and watched
his dying friend floating around the transport, looking like "a puppet
with his strings all tangled up." When the young man’s body was brought
back on the ship, his eyes looked frozen. Ever since then, Franklin has never
found spacing jokes funny. (WORD) While studying at Harvard University, Franklin
said he wanted his name to go down in history (INFECTION). His teachers included
Dr. Vance Hendricks (INFECTION) and Dr. Everett Jacobs (HUNTER). Hendricks
said Franklin was his favorite student and he excelled in alien history, anatomy,
and culture (INFECTION), while Jacobs helped the young student when he had
problems with xeno-biology. Franklin was marked 3.7 in Jacobs’ first aid class,
although he always seemed to think it was 4. In between classes, Jacobs would
tell Franklin about all the things he had seen in his travels across the galaxies,
thus encouraging him to leave Earth and explore the galaxy (HUNTER). Desperate
to leave home and inspired by Jacobs’ tales, Franklin spent several years
hithhiking across the galaxy, trading his medical skills for passage (SKY).
During his travels, he visited Markab and became friends with Dr. Lazarenn.
The Markab physician later recalled that Franklin believed everything was
a test to be passed and a problem to be solved (CONFESSIONS). When the Earth-Minbari
War broke out, Franklin ended his hithhiking voyage and joined Earthforce.
Toward the end of the conflict, he was asked to hand in his notes on the Minbari
for use in genetic and biological weapons, but he instead chose to destroy
them. As a doctor, he swore an oath to save life, not take it, and refused
to cooperate in killing. (SKY) Thus, Dr. Franklin will break any rule to save
life or soothe pain. He believes all forms of life are equal and has always
been fascinated by aliens (SACRIFICE, GROPOS). Unsurprisingly, therefore,
he loves serving on Babylon 5 because of the variety of aliens he encounters
aboard the station (GROPOS). He quickly becomes excited at the prospect of
discovering new alien life (KNIVES). Franklin is an idealist. He believes
there’s always hope and feels Babylon 5 is worthwhile for the simple reason
it saves lives (WORD). He doesn’t believe in the process of brainwiping (MERCY)
and was willing to accept that the infamous war criminal Jha’dur intended
to give the galaxy her universal anti-agapic to make amends for her earlier
evil actions. Franklin always opposed corporation expeditions to dead alien
worlds because they reminded him of grave-robbing (INFECTION), and strongly
dislikes frauds and con-artists (MERCY). He was convinced the M’ola and Tharg
would abandon their religious beliefs and ask him to perform the operation
necessary to save their son’s life. When they refused, the doctor risked his
career to perform the operation illegally. (BELIEVERS) Franklin doesn’t like
it when his patients lie to him (REVELATIONS) and feels a doctor and his patient
form a team with one common goal: The patient’s recovery (STAR). He makes
it a rule never to sleep with his patients (LONG). Toward the end of 2258,
he was given custody of the Alien Healing Device and hoped to use it to save
lives when all other traditional medical means failed (MERCY). The following
year, he put his theory to test when he donated some of his life energy to
Security Chief Garibaldi (REVELATIONS). Naturally, he hates to lose a patient
and feels haunted by all those he couldn’t save (CONFESSIONS). Sometimes when
he goes to bed, he closes his eyes and sees the faces of every patient he
has lost (Z’HA’DUM). As far as Franklin is concerned, work always comes first.
Consequently, his romantic relationships have always been strained because
he couldn’t find someone who accepted his commitment to his work. If he ever
did find his ideal woman and decided to have children with her, he believed
they would have to leave Babylon 5 because the station was not the ideal place
to start a family (LONG). In his first two years as Babylon 5’s chief medical
officer, Franklin found himself briefly involved with Janice Rosen (MERCY)
and Mariah Cirrus (LONG). Although Mariah returned to Earth, she told him
she might see him again some time if he was interested (LONG). During the
latter part of 2258, the doctor started an illegal clinic in Down Below for
those who could not afford to pay for medical treatment in the station’s medlabs
(MERCY). Captain Sheridan later discovered Franklin was one of the group of
doctors who had started an underground railroad of unregistered telepaths.
Thus Franklin had set up the clinic Down Below to process the telepaths and
change their records without Babylon 5’s medlab staff knowing anything about
it. Following Psi Cop Bester’s investigation into the railroad in 2259, Franklin
reallocated the telepaths away from the station (RACE). When his father visited
Babylon 5 in 2259, Franklin took the advice of Commander Ivanova and tried
to make peace with him before it was too late. During a heart-to-heart talk
with "Firestorm," Franklin admitted he had always respected his
father, but had said many things he shouldn’t have said. The doctor then said
his father gave him strength, independence, and courage and stated his life
wouldn’t have been the same without him. Franklin then told him he had always
loved him and always would (GROPOS). Later in the year, Dr. Franklin was flattered
when Capt. Sheridan compared him with the general (KNIVES). Franklin is a
Foundationalist. He once revealed that he had a problem believing in God because
he wondered if God had stopped believing in its people (Z’HA’DUM). He doesn’t
believe Soul Hunters have the ability to steal a soul and thinks the Minbari
stories about the mysterious aliens were nothing more than superstition (SOUL).
When he was asked about mankind’s growing disillusionment and cynicism in
2259, Franklin said he believes the human race had lost interest in the future
when it got all the things it wanted. He believed mankind was like a child
who desperately wanted a Christmas present, only to be disappointed when he
or she finally got it. (HUNTER) Driven and obsessive, Dr. Franklin became
increasingly-dependent on stims during the course of 2259. When Garibaldi
tried to inquire about his growing addiction to the drugs at the beginning
of 2260, Franklin initially rebuked the security chief, but later explained
to him he didn’t have a problem but would cut down on using them. Unfortunately
for Franklin, he couldn’t keep his promise. (STRIFE) Also see Children of
Time and Foundation, The. (Played by Richard Biggs) [BAB5]
- Franks, Aaron: Pseudonym used by Col. Ari Ben Zayne
while visiting Babylon 5. Zayne said Franks was a member of the Quartermaster
Corporation and was hoping to win a military supply contract with the station.
(EYES) [BAB5]
- Frazi: Class of Narn heavy fighter. (MIND) [BAB5]
- Free Mars: Free Mars was originally a peaceful movement
which was established to win Mars independence through the use of political
pressure and peaceful protests. However, in the years leading up to the Earth-Minbari
War, its members decided Free Mars could only reach its goal through the use
of violence. In 2258, the movement led the Mars Rebellion against the Earth-appointed
government. (SPIDER) [BAB5]
- "Frell": A curse word frequently used in
the Uncharted Territories. [FAR]
- Fremen (Freh-men): The free tribes of Arrakis, desert
dwellers. [DUNE]
- Fremkit (Frem-kit): Desert survival kit of Fremen manufacture
[DUNE]
- Fresh Air: The finest restaurant on Babylon
5. [BAB5]
- Full Torso Simultation: A desperate procedure used
to save a patient’s life by stimulating the entire body. (SOUL) [BAB5]
- FutureCorp: Earth-based company established by Targo
Isogi. Shortly before his death in 2259, Isogi proposed a deal between FutureCorp
and the Mars Conglomerate which, he claimed, would not only prove to be extremely
lucrative but would also bring a lasting peace to the Mars Colony. (SPIDER)
[BAB5]
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