No need for interdictor cruisers at Endor?

RayCav of ASVS · Post by **RayCav of ASVS** » 2002-09-14 01:07am

I know there was a thread where people argued that there must have been interdictor cruisers at Endor of some type, even though they may have never been seen. But think about this -

- The Eclipse, which is infintile compared to the DS II, was large enough to have its own grav wells

- The Rebel fleet wasn't able to escape until AFTER the destruciton of the DS II

Therefore, could it be possible that the "interdictor cruiser" at Endor was the DS II itself!

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2002-09-14 01:19am

Something as massive as DSII has to have enormous artificial Gravity. That means that some of it will bleed out, affecting the space around it.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2002-09-14 01:27am

The Death Stars gravity was what pulled the Executor into it when it lost control, so yes, the DSII emits a very substantial amount of gravity.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2002-09-14 02:50am

They Empire didn't need shit though. Between the DS II and the forest moon of Endor there was no where to go. Endor was pretty fucking big. I would suffice to say that I am about to kill two birds with one stone. Possibly a Trekkie in a pear tree as well. Piett commands 'Hold here.' In surprise the other officer exclaims 'We're not going to attack?' Piett responds, 'We are only to keep them from escaping.' So what does this mean man?!? First off, that the fleet was more than likely at the edge of a gravity well. The Rebel fleet would have to get past this point in order to escape into hyperspace. Not to mention the fact, that if I was in command I would actually come in some distance. This way if ships began to get past the blockade, they still have to travel in real space a distance before they can escape. Secondly, there was no point to be at maximum turbo laser range. As we know, Death Fleet was supposed to come out of hyperspace further back than they did at Hoth, presumably to begin a bombardment from space early on. Here at Endor, they moved in closer. Insuring that they could not only pulvarize any ship heading towards them, but also keeping them within easy weapons range if they made it past.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-09-14 02:21pm

NF_Utvol wrote:The Stars gravity was what pulled the Executor into it when it lost control, so yes, the DSII emits a very substantial amount of gravity.

The acceleration of the Executor was too fast to say it was the gravity of the DSII that pulled it in. It could have been an engine misfire of some sort. I do believe that the DSII could have acted as the Intredictor.

RayCav of ASVS · Post by **RayCav of ASVS** » 2002-09-14 02:42pm

Yeah, I obviously forgot the whole "DS 2 + Endor = REALLY BIG NATURAL GRAV WELL" thing

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2002-09-15 09:41pm

It's clear from the dialog: it wasn't interdictors preventing the rebel fleet from leaving, it was the Emperor's presence there. "We'll never have another chance at this" to quote Lando. The rebel fleet stayed and fought because it was the only chance they'd have to destroy both the second Death Star and the Emperor in one blow. To allow either one to survive the battle would have been a loss for the Rebellion: if the Emperor had survived, the Empire would not have fallen apart like it did. The Death Star was replaceable: the Empire had already lost one and in a surprisingly short time had the construction of another well underway. Had Palpatine survived, it would only have been a matter of time before the Rebels saw Death Star III.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-09-15 09:43pm

Remember that the Imperial fleet WAS able to disengage before the DSII's destruction, on orders from Pelleon. Also recall from The Courtship of Princess Leia that gravity projectors do not selectively target only one side's ships or the other. They affect all nearby ships.

greenmm · Post by **greenmm** » 2002-09-16 04:53pm

beyond hope wrote:It's clear from the dialog: it wasn't interdictors preventing the rebel fleet from leaving, it was the Emperor's presence there. "We'll never have another chance at this" to quote Lando. The rebel fleet stayed and fought because it was the only chance they'd have to destroy both the second Death Star and the Emperor in one blow. To allow either one to survive the battle would have been a loss for the Rebellion: if the Emperor had survived, the Empire would not have fallen apart like it did. The Death Star was replaceable: the Empire had already lost one and in a surprisingly short time had the construction of another well underway. Had Palpatine survived, it would only have been a matter of time before the Rebels saw Death Star III.

Good point.

Also, consider that the Emperor said the Imperial Fleet was hiding behind Endor's forest moon to trap the Rebels.

Well, there's two ways apparantly two things that affect a hyperspace trajectory:

-- gravity (gravity well, stars, black holes, and Interdictors)
-- physical objects (stars, black holes, and even starships)

Given some tactical planning, you would expect an enemy force (ie. Rebels) to approach the DS2 at a fairly shallow angle, so that they can quickly reorient themselves for an escape jump to hyperspace, thus limiting their potential approach vectors -- particularly if they correctly guessed that the Fleet would follow Skywalker and company's flight path in. Then, the Imperial Fleet waits in position so that they quickly come out and block the escape path. If flying into a star in hyperspace is just as bad as flying into one in realspace, I'm sure the same holds for flying into an ISD or a flight of fighters.

Fighting their way out would have been possible... but they would have taken heavy casualties, casualties not as easy for the Rebels to replace, especially given their lack of extensive shipyards that the Imperials had. This was the Rebellion's "Do or Die" plan: they didn't expect to have a better chance at scoring a deadly blow against the Empire, and had no idea that the Emperor purposefully led them there to be destroyed. Nor did they know what was going on down on the moon... and as I'm sure any resident ex-military types and military history buffs can attest to, strict adherance to preplanned timetables during military operations is very rare.

So, while it was physically possible for the Rebels to retreat, to have done so would have been a strategic as well as a tactical retreat, as well as causing them the definite loss of 4 of their best heroes and symbols to Imperial prison, if not execution.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-09-16 05:26pm

One correction Greenmm, Physical objects don't matter, Only if its gravity is at a high enough point. For example if one Hyperspaced through Kuat one would pass through many many fighters/capships and what-not and could do so safly, however the plantary masses would drag you back in and you would die kinda

However we do know the size break-off, Eclipse Sized and bigger cast enough of a Mass shadow to pull ships out so theres the line right there if you say wanted to draw one

greenmm · Post by **greenmm** » 2002-09-17 10:51am

Are we sure that only gravity affects the hyperspace jump? I mean, the movies seem to show the jump actually taking up physical distance in the "normal" universe... so if there's an object in your way during your entrance or exit jump, wouldn't that be a problem beyond just having to avoid its mass shadow?

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-09-17 05:23pm

greenmm wrote:Are we sure that only gravity affects the hyperspace jump? I mean, the movies seem to show the jump actually taking up physical distance in the "normal" universe... so if there's an object in your way during your entrance or exit jump, wouldn't that be a problem beyond just having to avoid its mass shadow?

We're sure that gravity wells affect hyperspace. They appear to be created only by very large objects. And in TIE fighter: Collector's CD ROM there is a collision immediately after exiting hyperspace that destroys a flight of TIE Avengers sent to help you out (which wasn't very helpful), but it appears as if careful planning can limit the danger. Also, the Falcon was able to exit hyperspace in the midst of the Alderaan debris field without being heavily damaged. This indicates that larger ships can withstand collisions with small objects. Maybe their shields are tough enough to take it.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2002-09-17 09:23pm

Master of Ossus wrote:
greenmm wrote:Are we sure that only gravity affects the hyperspace jump? I mean, the movies seem to show the jump actually taking up physical distance in the "normal" universe... so if there's an object in your way during your entrance or exit jump, wouldn't that be a problem beyond just having to avoid its mass shadow?
We're sure that gravity wells affect hyperspace. They appear to be created only by very large objects. And in TIE fighter: Collector's CD ROM there is a collision immediately after exiting hyperspace that destroys a flight of TIE Avengers sent to help you out (which wasn't very helpful), but it appears as if careful planning can limit the danger. Also, the Falcon was able to exit hyperspace in the midst of the Alderaan debris field without being heavily damaged. This indicates that larger ships can withstand collisions with small objects. Maybe their shields are tough enough to take it.

Well this is where the novelisation comes in handy. First off, Han thinks to himself that he's glad he exits hyperspace with his shields up. Mainly just in case some cronies want to take pot shots at him. It also has Luke thinking over the process of jumping. Why there are two units, a subspace and a hyperdrive unit. It does say that a ship can't enter while in a gravity well.