Tantive v Devastator: why did it even bother?

[Patrick Ogaard]

If one assumes that the captain of the Tantive IV had a plan, how about this one?

He knows Leia needs to get to the surface of the planet, and that he has to try to get his ship safely out of the scrap if at all possible.

So...

1. Stay close to the planet, trying to interpose its bulk between the ISD and the corvette.

2. Once the corvette is out of the immediate view of the ISD, and is in the proper position to drop Leia, shields are dropped and all escape pods are launched simultaneously for the surface, with one containing Leia.

3. The corvette then raises shields again, changes vector and tries to run for hyperspace.

Obviously, it did not work, due to the needs of the plot and a minor design flaw of the Corellian Corvette. The key to the above plan working would be to keep the ISD in the dark. That would explain the apparent individual firing of the corvette's twin turbolaser barrels. The bolts had less chance of hurting the ISD's shields, but the increased number of shield flashes on the ISD would have had a chance of throwing off the sensor operators, and the ISD could not drop its shields to release the fighters because the corvette was lined up to savage the launch bay area if the shields dropped. A quick volley across Tattooine's upper atmosphere after the pods were launched would have obscured the descent of the pods, and the empty escape pod bays on the corvette would have ideally been invisible to the ISD.

And then there's the hope that a bit of shield bleedthrough might have taken out something important on the ISD.

[Mad]

If one assumes that the captain of the Tantive IV had a plan, how about this one?

As I recall, Threepio mentioned something about the Tantive IV attempting to enter the atmosphere in the novelization.

He knows Leia needs to get to the surface of the planet, and that he has to try to get his ship safely out of the scrap if at all possible.

Actually, they just need to get out and get the plans to the Rebellion. As far as I'm aware, getting the plans to Obi-Wan was Plan B once the Tantive IV couldn't escape. If they still felt the need to pick up Obi-Wan later, they could always come back.

1. Stay close to the planet, trying to interpose its bulk between the ISD and the corvette.

Or even try to enter the atmosphere. The ISD can't follow, and misses would cause collateral damage to the planet. The Devastator would either reduce fire to avoid angering the Hutts (if they rebelled, they could give the Rebellion some hefty financial support), or would continue to fire, giving the Rebels more propaganda to use against the evil Empire for killing innocents (though the Empire will attribute the damage to the rebel terrorists). Either way, it puts some distance between them.

Once in the atmosphere, the T4 could turn around and try to run the blockade. The velocity it picks up exiting the atmosphere could give it a chance to outrun the Devastator out of the gravity well.

I doubt the corvette would have much of a chance for getting out of sight of the ISD, though.

2. Once the corvette is out of the immediate view of the ISD, and is in the proper position to drop Leia, shields are dropped and all escape pods are launched simultaneously for the surface, with one containing Leia.

The ISD can scan for life-forms on the escape pods. That trick wouldn't fool the Devastator for long. Then it'd either zap them from orbit or send stormies down to investigate.

That would explain the apparent individual firing of the corvette's twin turbolaser barrels. The bolts had less chance of hurting the ISD's shields, but the increased number of shield flashes on the ISD would have had a chance of throwing off the sensor operators, and the ISD could not drop its shields to release the fighters because the corvette was lined up to savage the launch bay area if the shields dropped.

Further, messing around with the sensors can make precision disabling shots more difficult to make. The T4's bolts seemed to spread around the shields when they hit, while the ISD's bolts had much more concentrated explosions. This could be shield differences, or the T4 may have done something to allow the bolts to be more dispersed on impact, to allow more of a light show to help distract sensors.

Making it difficult for the ISD to launch fighters is probably the most realistic idea. Damage to the hangar would make docking with the T4 more difficult, as well.

And then there's the hope that a bit of shield bleedthrough might have taken out something important on the ISD.

While a possibility, the chances of working are far too unlikely for this to be a realistic option. Still, no reason not to try it, especially with the other possible benefits.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

It was supposed to be an act of diffiance in my opinion. Personally, I would have waited for them to tractor me in, then open up with all that I had left. I just hope my boys could overload that anti energy claw in the by with some technolobabble and then I could take them down with me. I need to stop listening to that one speech in Independence Day. That movie kicks ass!

Um....

You've actually seen A New Hope, right?

A retarded suicide tactic like that would result in the following:

1: The death of Princess Leia (and R2 and 3PO).
2: The loss of the stolen plans for Death Star I.
3: Luke never meeting Kenobi (and never becoming a Jedi).
4: Kenobi never receiving Leia's message.
5: The DS1 plans never reaching the Rebels.
6: Etc...

[Slartibartfast]

It was supposed to be an act of diffiance in my opinion. Personally, I would have waited for them to tractor me in, then open up with all that I had left. I just hope my boys could overload that anti energy claw in the by with some technolobabble and then I could take them down with me. I need to stop listening to that one speech in Independence Day. That movie kicks ass!

Um....

You've actually seen A New Hope, right?

A retarded suicide tactic like that would result in the following:

1: The death of Princess Leia (and R2 and 3PO).
2: The loss of the stolen plans for Death Star I.
3: Luke never meeting Kenobi (and never becoming a Jedi).
4: Kenobi never receiving Leia's message.
5: The DS1 plans never reaching the Rebels.
6: Etc...

I think we can leave 3 out, since it was never part of the plan - just a happy coincidence. The other four of course would have sucked.