Ship of the Week: The Death Star

[Captain Seafort]

That's fairly easy to rationalise - the fact that nothing on the surface got flash-fried by gamma radiation in the first few seconds after the Death Star blew indicates that the Rebel strike team must only have taken out the generator for the shield surrounding the Death Star, not the planetary shield.

[Sionnach Glic]

Or the effects were more on the long term.

[Captain Seafort]

There should have been impacts within minutes of the DS exploding, and given the size of the explosion there should have been a massive blast of gamma rays irradiating everything on the DS side of the moon. While various people (including Saxton) have argued that the fighters overhead during the victory celebrationwere busy vaping and big lumps before they could hit, I don't see how the gamma blast can be explained away. Plus, why would the Alliance risk the lives of valuable personnel (including the only Jedi in the galaxy) for a party, when the moon was doomed? The only sensible explanation I can see is that the moon was still shielded.

[Sionnach Glic]

Probably right.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

The Force, and apparently some freaky wormhole sucked away a lot of the debris.

And if the Ewoks cartoon's canon, literal magic would've protected the little fuzzballs.

One thing, though. A grate would've been good, but not perfect. One attack run takes out the grate, the other shoots down the hole. Instead, just a simple kink in the pipe...

[Captain Seafort]

The Force, and apparently some freaky wormhole sucked away a lot of the debris.

I've heard that "theory" once or twice. It's utterly retarded.

Look at RotJ - specifically the explosion of the Death Star. If there were a wormholermoving a significant amount of debris you be able to see it, either from the debris field contracting, or from the lense effect of the wormfole's gravity. Nothing of the sort is visible, therefore no wormhole.

[Sionnach Glic]

Aye. Given that you can see the blast expanding, I doubt there was any wormhole thingy.

[kostmayer]

Speaking of the shield generator - it's a good while since I've seen ROTJ, but it seems to me that when the rebels blew it up the explosion was a good 50 metres in raidus - it would have incinerated the strike force, and probably set fire to the forest.

[Captain Seafort]

It depends - don't forget that the strike force was concentrated at the secondary entrance, rather than round the front where the dish was. There may have been quite a distance between the two. As for the forest, who knows - bits of it may have been set alight, and the Ewoks and/or Rebels put it out.

[Sionnach Glic]

Nope. The largest explosion was caused by the dish going up, and that was a fair enough distance from the strike force at the time (probably on the other side of the complex).

[Coalition]

I'd see the Death Star's job as along the lines of the Emperor sending a letter to the 100 most troublesome planets:

"The most troublesome one tomorrow will be dead."

Presto - instant loyalty, plus planetary governors turning over rebels, suspected rebels, and potential rebels in efforts to avoid getting annihilated. They don't have to be completely perfect, they just don't want to be the worst. Remember the joke about not being able to outrun the bear, just outrunning your friend? Apply it on a planetary scale.

True, you could get millions of Star Destroyers instead (I'm getting ~.08533... cubic kilometers for Star Destroyer volume, based on LxWxH, one third of that due to the pyramid shape, and half that due to the back being a diamond shape, and ignoring the bridge), but the Death Star offers the convenience of one button, one less potential rebellion. It is also good for improving manners; it is amazing how polite a planetary governor will be when the Death Star is in-system.


Plus if you go by some of the theories out there, the Emperor knew about the Yuuzhan Vong (biowanking extra galactic invaders). The Death Stars would be used to destroy their worldships.


As far as the ground troops, the key moron was the guy who opened the door at the end. Even if all the troops were lost, even if the rebels in space defeated the Imperial fleet, if he had just kept the door shut the Death Star would have killed every rebel ship. He is the one that should be executed for gross incompetence in the line of duty, his spouse looked into for marrying a moron, and his children culled for the good of the gene pool.


For a nasty big threat, check out the Beast Planet.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Meh, I'd prefer a wormhole deus ex to a charred Endor, to be honest. And the wormhole might've taken time. And like I also said, magic beings!

[Captain Seafort]

Meh, I'd prefer a wormhole deus ex to a charred Endor, to be honest.

The former's directly contradicted by what we see in RotJ, whereas the latter's a distinct possibility. The only way it can be dismissed is if the rebels were able to restore the planetary shield before the Death Star blew.

And the wormhole might've taken time.

The initial radiation flash would have reach Endor within seconds, and the first lumps of debris (including a few chunks that make the K-T asteroid look like a pebble) a few minutes later. The debris cloud was expanding far too quickly for any wormhole to either a) exist or b) stop any of the chunks hitting the moon.

[kostmayer]

This has probably been addressed before, but even after the destruction of the Death Star, wasn't the Rebel Fleet still out numbered? I understand how the Empire could ultimately fall apart with the death of Palpatine, but the battle itself could still have been won.

[Captain Seafort]

This has probably been addressed before, but even after the destruction of the Death Star, wasn't the Rebel Fleet still out numbered?

It was - heavily.

I understand how the Empire could ultimately fall apart with the death of Palpatine, but the battle itself could still have been won.

That is a whole other can of worms.

The short version is that Palpatine was using the Force to enhance the combat effectiveness of the fleet - when he died, that disappeared, disorientating the Imperials. Worse, his death meant that a massive concentration of dark side Force energy was no longer focused, which likewise adversely affected the effectiveness of the Imperial fleet. It was these factors that lead to the loss of the Executor, the destruction of the Death Star, and "the loss of at least six other Star Destroyers in encounters none of them should have had any problem with" according to Grand Admiral Thrawn. With the DS and the Ex gone, the chain of command came apart and when Pellaeon aboard the Chimaera ordered a retreat, most of the fleet followed.