Imperium 'Ultra' Class Star Destroyer

[Ray]

"Hello, and thank you for using the Ultra Mag-Lev Train! We are going to be passing through Section 5574 soon, home of the infamous Battle of 5574, when a group of Rebel Smuggling Ships mistook us for a Space Station, you can still see the dent where one smashed into a Bulkhead trying to escape..."

[Jedi Skyler]

I would imagine that a vessel that size would indeed be sectioned off; the commander of the vessel would not likely do too much in the way of personal inspection; that's why he has subordinates. They in turn have their own lackeys, and the job gets delegated down to allow it to be done in a manageable fashion. If there's a specific problem area, word gets to the big cheese, and he heads out for a little personal attention.

I believe earlier on it was stated that this vessel would be set up like the Death Star, with sectors and such... there'd be actual city-like set-ups, including personal vehicular transportation. I'd also imagine that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities for turbolifts in something like this to be more like they are in Star Trek, where they move horizontally as well as vertically. I mean, it only makes sense.

As for escape pods and the like: if you live/work in an area, you abandon ship from that area or you don't abandon ship at all.

[Firehawk0220]

It's cool looking. I'll grant you that. I am not commenting on the story at all.

But 260KM is unrealistic. For financial reasons and because that would make it longer than the Death Star is diameter. Which seems unlikely.

At the absolute height of Imperial Domination this might be possible, but not afterwards. There isn't even a facility in existance where this thing could be manufactured. You'd be better off building a thousand regular Star Destroyers and launching them as one fleet to Couscant or something like that to conquer the Galaxy.

[Pel]

Well, it makes a nice conversation piece. Who needs an army of lawn gnomes and plastic pink flamingos when you've got one of these?
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[LordAnubisOne]

I'm new here but I've seen the ship before on a site I know of. ANd I was just wondering how many decks a ship like that would have? I mean how many decks does even a standard SD have? much less this huge thing. -thanx

[Vartax]

Maybe it was an abanond project due to the amount of resources it was going to need. I could see palpatine having several advisors all around a table listing super terrors they want to bring to life. Death star, sun crusher, Emprium class, and when it came down to being able to build and construct them even if they stole all the resources it would take 4 years to gather and another 10 to build.

[Jedi Skyler]

I can just see the conversations now...

"Yeah, I got my husband this for our anniversary... and all he got me was a Corellian Corvette! The nerve!"

[Kayle Skolaris]

Wow, can't believe I forgot all about this topic.

Okay, going back over the design I created, it has numerous flaws. For one thing, the crew should be increased by a factor of at least ten, possibly a hundred.

In a setting where you can clone entire armies, finding crew is NOT A PROBLEM.

In a setting where you can mount ONE superlaser on a ten-mile long combat platform and reasonably expect to fire it multiple times per day, mounting 140 on a vessel several thousand times more massive is NOT A PROBLEM.

In a setting where you can build not one, but two hundred-mile diameter spherical battlestations in near-total secrecy with not even a hiccup in the galactic economy, affording a single Imperium is NOT A PROBLEM.

In a setting where hundred-mile diameter battlestations can be constructed, crewed, and operated (even if it was only for a short time), constructing, crewing, and operating an Imperium is NOT A PROBLEM.

In a civilization with quadrillions of sapients and millions of inhabited worlds, affording and/or supplying ANYTHING an Imperium, or even several dozen Imperiums, requires is NOT A PROBLEM.

I mean no offense, but most of you who object to the scale and complexity of this ship aren't thinking in Star Wars scale. You're thinking in Earth scale. Earth scale is a scale in which the Great Pyramids are impressive. It's a scale in which half a million people dying at once from any given source is mind-numbing. It's a scale in which the Panama Canal was a major undertaking.

That's Earth Scale.

Star Wars Scale is a scale in which a mile-long Star Destroyer is thought of by a smuggler as a glorified coast guard cutter. Star Wars Scale is a scale in which a single act of aggression can (and does) destroy entire inhabited planets. Hell, even STARS aren't safe at Star Wars Scale. It is a scale at which terraforming entire planets not only isn't a major undertaking, it's a routine undertaking.

Godzilla is Earth Scale.

The Space Slug is Star Wars Scale.

The 265 meter long Battleship Yamato is Earth Scale.

The 19 kilometer (or even 8 kilometer, doesn't much matter at this size) Executor, which could fit the Yamato sideways into one of its smaller thrusters, is Star Wars Scale.

[Pel]

All good points.

So...Assuming one wanted to use this titanic terror, what sort of weaknesses would you imagine it has? It can pretty much take out an assault fleet, so frontal attack is no good. Planetary defenses crumble before the might of massed superlaser attacks. I'm leaned toward infiltration and sabotage (the thermal exhaust port is so passe'). Any ideas?
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[Kayle Skolaris]

Well, it greatly depends on what super weapons are in your OWN arsenal. Centerpoint Station could crack it like an eggshell. In fact, that spinal mount stellar repulsor cannon is simply a cut-down reproduction of Centerpoint Station. Surrounding it with drone ships equipped with gravity well projectors and then launching resonance torpedoes into the primary star of whatever system it's in would work as well. Galaxy Gun strikes might work.

At some point, to adequately defend against superweapon attacks, you need superweapons of your own.

If you're an idiot, like Mon Mothma, and refuse to sanction the construction of superweapons, you have to rely on the far less surefire method of iinfiltration techniques. With a crew in the multi-million man range, there's a good chance you can get some people on board. Potentionally thousands of operatives, in fact. The key is to get enough operatives onboard in strategically useful positions, which isn't going to be easy with such a massive crew. A ship like this is highly unlikely to have a single 'achilles heel' weak spot, but if you can coordinate a dozen or so different simultaneous failures across the ship, you might be able to cripple it long enough to take it out. Don't even dream about capturing it, though. Against a determined opponent, you could fight for decades in a boarding action and never even come close to capturing something like this.

For a power like the New Republic (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) your best infiltration options will definitely involve Jedi Knights. Jedi are the only significant superweapons the Republic uses and they should be treated as such.

On a final note, if all else fails it's remotely possible that ramming attacks by Executor-sized warships could cripple an Imperium, but I wouldn't pin my hopes on that alone. It'd be best coordinated with a massive internal sabotage campaign, and if you get the timing off... well... it was nice knowing you.

Bottom line, nothing is invincible. The Death Stars proved this. This ship is formidable in the extreme, but it is still entirely possible to destroy.

[Dask Rowan]

[Kayle Skolaris]

The in-universe reason the SC was dropped into Yavin is so it could be called upon if ever needed again. The real reason is so that hack KJA could weasel out of writing a real story again in the future and just resort to lame plot devices.

As for destroying it, that's simple enough. Drop it into a black hole or expose the hull to antimatter. If those options aren't available, hit it with enough firepower to knock out the internal inertial dampeners and then shake the crew to death. The ship will be intact, but the crew will be chunky salsa. Also, some Force powers bypass armor entirely. Nothing says 'screw you' to God Armor quite like Force Lightning.

[garhkal]

[Pel]

Yeah, quantum armor folds on the event horizon. Mother Nature at her finest!
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Aha!

[Dask Rowan]