Niska's station: moving or stationary?

POSTED BY: illbeinmybunk
UPDATED: Saturday, February 5, 2005 07:17
VIEWED: 6958
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ILLBEINMYBUNK

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 2:50 AM

I'm guessing this has already been brought up, but if not...

I think of space stations as stationary, not moving. If thats the case, wouldn't Mal have been a little more cautious about delivering medical supplies to the planet Niska orbits. Wouldn't Mal not have gone there at all or at least not called it a "milk run"? In the episode Mal also refers a few times to the "this quadrant" meaning they are in a specific part of space. Maybe Niska's station moves around in this specific quadrant?

Regardless, it seems pretty unlikely that when Serenity entered the system they wouldnt detect a giant space station....

AGREY

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 3:06 AM

Well, running with the assumption that Niska only has one skyplex (although the episodes seem to indicate this, it never directly says that he does not own more than one...), it leads us to the conclusion that Niska is based off of just one skyplex, and that it is orbiting the planet Paradisio is on. (I never did catch if that planet had a name...)
Now, since Niska's skyplex, besides being his home, is obviously also a functional orbital cargo transhippment point, it is assumed to be stationary, excepting whatever minimal maneuvering capacity it has (reaction thrusters, if that-depends on how high the orbit is) to maintian orbit, and, of course, the fact that it is orbiting the planet.
The other thing is that Mal quite possibly thought that he alluded Niska's attention (after all, the planet has only one station, and it would not be too hard for Serenity to hide in the planet's shadow and then land when the station could not see), and hence, thought himself and his crew safe. Of course, Mal was wrong, but if I remember right, Niska's lieutenant/assistant/general-purpose bitch said something about "operatives" either detecting or aiding in the detection of the Serenity....which means that Mal was not picked up by the skyplex's (assumably) rather extensive sensor array (Niska being a presumably paranoid crime lord taking precautions), but by Niska's spies.
As to the quadrant bit, that simply gives us a clue as to how they have divided and labeled the known 'verse for ease of conversation and navigation.

Of course, if Niska had more than one skyplex (all looking identical and being outfitted generally the same, very unlikely) that it would not be surprising that Mal thought it was a milk run-he would not have known Niska had a base in that system.
Any questions?

RHUTTNER

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 3:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by illbeinmybunk:
I'm guessing this has already been brought up, but if not...

I think of space stations as stationary, not moving. If thats the case, wouldn't Mal have been a little more cautious about delivering medical supplies to the planet Niska orbits. Wouldn't Mal not have gone there at all or at least not called it a "milk run"? In the episode Mal also refers a few times to the "this quadrant" meaning they are in a specific part of space. Maybe Niska's station moves around in this specific quadrant?

Regardless, it seems pretty unlikely that when Serenity entered the system they wouldnt detect a giant space station....

I've wondered this myself a number of times. I just checked a few things. In The Train Job, the skyplex was orbiting upside down. This means that the top of the station was pointing directly towards the planet and the bottom pointing towards space.

In War Stories, the skyplex is orbiting almost with a 90 degree rotation to that. This means that both the top and bottom are pointing towards space, and 1 'side' of its rotation is towards the planet.

This change of orientation could be a result of moving the station to a different planet. Mal would not know that Niska had done that. Of course this is just a theory. Theres no evidence either way. But I would rather think that Mal was smart enough not to go to a planet with Niska's skyplex (or one of them if he has several) orbiting.

SHINY

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 4:26 AM

This exchange from the shooting script (but either not filmed or cut from the final version) confirms that Niska's skyplex remains in orbit of the same planet (which I don't believe is the one Paradiso is on; Niska simply sent Mal on a mission to Paradiso, it doesn't mean it's on the same planet):

INARA
A man will die, horribly, if I do not
act. I apologize for my conduct, but
as a member of the world council you
cannot be unaware of what Adelai
Niska is.

COUNCILOR
His skyplex is beyond our
jurisdiction. I really must ask
that --

COUNCILOR
I... I appreciate it. I'm just sorry
I can't do more to help you.

INARA
(temper rising)
Then do more -- help me. The Council
can claim jurisdiction over Niska's
Skyplex--

COUNCILOR
A year ago, maybe, but Niska's
become... he's bought off most of the
Council. I'd be in the minority and
on my way to the grave. I wish --

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

GUNRUNNER

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 4:51 AM

Well its not stationary since its orbits the planet and thus is mobile, it can change its orbital plane allowing for it to facing differently in the two shows. Possibly it relocate to a moon of that planet using something like Serenity’s Fusion Drive.

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RHUTTNER

Friday, August 6, 2004 12:19 AM

Possible evidence that Niska does have more than one station is the torture room. In The Train Job the walls are silver and the floor is at the same level as the floor in Niska's office. In War Stories, the walls are darker and have holes in them with light coming in, and the floor is deeper and requires walking down steps.

So maybe he does have more than one and Mal was not aware that Niska had one orbiting this planet.

GNARSH

Sunday, August 8, 2004 6:56 AM

Hey, I know that if I was an insane crime lord, I'd sure as hell have multiple torture rooms.

WITLESSCHUM

Monday, August 23, 2004 3:44 PM

The aid says "long range" presumably meaning sensors.

My theory is that the crew landed on the opposite side of the planet from the Skyplex, so it wouldn't notice their arrival, then they sent the shuttle to the pick up so it would be less noticable than a Firefly sitting there.

Niska could have sensors set up on a satellite that would prevent someone from doing this. All in all, they were a bit too casual about the threat of Niska.

Dan

LINDLEY

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 1:07 AM

Paradiso was mentioned by an Alliance officer as being in the Georgia system. Whether that's the system name or the planet name is unclear.

For that matter, the idea that Niska's skyplex is orbiting the planet containing Paradiso is also unclear, really.

I'm fairly sure that the planet from War Stories was Ezra.

FORRESTWOLF

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 1:16 AM

According to the Locations info on this site, Ezra is indeed the location of Niska's skyplex (also the name of my younger son, which gives me a bit of a worry when I think about it), at least in one of the episodes.

I've wondered, too - the basic problem is Mal not worrying when they get there. I'd say it's more likely to be stationary, and that we just don't have a good feel for how big planets are in Firefly. Ezra's a big place - Mal probably didn't think he'd immediately get ambushed by Niska. Sort of how they didn't worry about Badger and HIM ambushing them on Persephone in Shindig.

Firefly rule of thumb (Mal needs to learn this): When returning to a planet with a recurring "bad guy", expect him to show up.

- FW

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