A gateship in its active portal form, with its shield active and the portal itself is opening
A gateship powering up, preparing to activate when signaled to do so.
A Throne-class gateship arriving with an armed escort
A gateship slowly lurching out of a jump point.
The Throne-class Gateship is a sort of C&C for the Thirdspace Aliens. Physically, they greatly resemble the original Vorlon Gate, but have gravitic propulsion systems that, like the much smaller Avatar 3 Seraphim-class Dreadnaught, leaves no ion trail.
Characteristics[]
These massive ships are approximately 4,828 meters in length, or three miles long. Except for the energy draining capability, it is essentially unarmed, relying on fleets on ships surrounding it to protect itself. However, it is very thick-skinned, with enough armor to last a fleet for a whole week nonstop. It has a much more powerful energy field defense than the ships it can bring in.
If enough firepower is poured onto one side of the gateship, a small gap will open up in the shield on the opposite side to compensate, though just for a moment.
The ship itself has two parts, a large part that generates the gate portal and smaller piece that contains the generator and drive systems. The gateship does possess jump capability, and it can work in both normal space and Hyperspace. The drive piece has three forward-facing spines that help generate the defensive field. Many smaller antennas are located on the sides of the portal section.
Once a gateship jumps in to normal space, it follows a fairly simple activation procedure. First, it calibrates itself and powers up its gate mechanism. Then it dips its bow downward so the three spines face downwards. Then the main section of the gate moves upward and splits down the middle. Finally a massive energy pulse forms an energy plasma layer that is then pierced through the center and it funnels inwards and glows bright sky blue and turquoise, creating the active gate. Unlike the original mechanism, the portal can turn off and adjust the three pairs of moveable struts on the upper portion of the active portal to enlarge the opening to allow larger ships through.