Rogue One (Spoilers)

[Imperial528]

"Sir, shall I begin targeting their fleet?"

I forgot that line. In context are they talking about the superlaser or the other weaponry on board?

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm not certain, but as I recall, Tarkin responded by saying to leave the fleet to Vader and target Scarif with the super laser, which to me suggests that in context, they were talking about the super laser.

[Adam Reynolds]

I'm not certain, but as I recall, Tarkin responded by saying to leave the fleet to Vader and target Scarif with the super laser, which to me suggests that in context, they were talking about the super laser.

Though it is also possible that it is referring to the turbolasers, but that they cannot power up the superlaser and engage an entire fleet in battle at the same time. A few starfighters with low power weapons is one thing, a proper enemy fleet is another.

[Elheru Aran]

I'm not certain, but as I recall, Tarkin responded by saying to leave the fleet to Vader and target Scarif with the super laser, which to me suggests that in context, they were talking about the super laser.

Though it is also possible that it is referring to the turbolasers, but that they cannot power up the superlaser and engage an entire fleet in battle at the same time. A few starfighters with low power weapons is one thing, a proper enemy fleet is another.

Mind you... given the sheer amount of pure *space* the Death Star should have on its surface... 80+ thousand square KM if you go with the 160km diameter number... there's really no reason that it shouldn't have been able to go all WALL OF GREEN DEATH on attacking fleets. Hell, it's big enough and the internal schematics show that there's enough space to put like... a whole layer of individual turbolaser reactors encircling the entire station, it doesn't even need to use the main reactor to power the turbolasers.

Maybe it's supposed to be some kind of... ultimate siege weapon or something, I guess, where it's going into space that has already been subjugated or something like that, but it seems slightly absurd considering that IIRC it was supposed to replace a chunk of the fleet anyway. Considering the amount of forces that the CIS was able to bring to bear across the galaxy, wouldn't it be quite possible for a similar future coalition of systems to conjure up an impressive fleet to attack the DS? In which case it being able to defend itself would be necessary, and not just with the superlaser, which it would be possible to avoid by the simple expedient of keeping your ships in the DS' lee?

[Eternal_Freedom]

So I saw it again yesterday, and one thing really stuck out for me.

When Jyn first boards the Rebel ship and K2 introduces himself properly, why is he typing on the keyboard? We know he has a computer interface, we see him use it later.

[Elheru Aran]

K2 obviously has quite a few quirks. Maybe he's trying to be more 'human'?

But simplest explanation: perhaps his interface was incompatible?

Another thought: it would certainly be possible, if we can do it today, for the Imperials to encode 'phone home' programs into their droids' software, especially military units like K2. So K2 plugs his interface into a U-wing computer, and he doesn't know it but his programming goes 'hello I'm right here on a Rebel base'. Obviously such programming would be hunted for and scrubbed when he was reprogrammed, but just in case, he may have been told to not uplink with any Rebel equipment directly. In the Imperial base on Scarif though? Free and clear, an Imperial droid in an Imperial base.

[Galvatron]

Considering the amount of forces that the CIS was able to bring to bear across the galaxy, wouldn't it be quite possible for a similar future coalition of systems to conjure up an impressive fleet to attack the DS? In which case it being able to defend itself would be necessary, and not just with the superlaser, which it would be possible to avoid by the simple expedient of keeping your ships in the DS' lee?

I always took that as a given based on Dodonna's description of its defenses having been designed specifically to counter a large-scale assault.

[Elheru Aran]

Considering the amount of forces that the CIS was able to bring to bear across the galaxy, wouldn't it be quite possible for a similar future coalition of systems to conjure up an impressive fleet to attack the DS? In which case it being able to defend itself would be necessary, and not just with the superlaser, which it would be possible to avoid by the simple expedient of keeping your ships in the DS' lee?

I always took that as a given based on Dodonna's description of its defenses having been designed specifically to counter a large-scale assault.

Precisely.

Now mind you, we only see the DS in action in a few fairly restricted and singular conditions. Firstly Rogue One: a test firing on Jedha, and then it appears on the *other* side of a planet from a small fleet action (I don't care what anybody says, that fleet just wasn't that big). Range may have precluded using turbolasers, hence considering using the superlaser. Then Yavin 4, starfighters attacking the DS; not seen as a threat until the exhaust-shaft flaw is demonstrated. Endor: Incomplete Death Star ('fully functional' the Emperor says though), but we only see the superlaser firing IIRC and it rotates. No turbolaser fire IIRC.

Presumably it would have had the capability to resist an attacking fleet, but we simply don't see it, thus we can only assume it on a theoretical basis.

[Eternal_Freedom]

K2 obviously has quite a few quirks. Maybe he's trying to be more 'human'?

But simplest explanation: perhaps his interface was incompatible?

Another thought: it would certainly be possible, if we can do it today, for the Imperials to encode 'phone home' programs into their droids' software, especially military units like K2. So K2 plugs his interface into a U-wing computer, and he doesn't know it but his programming goes 'hello I'm right here on a Rebel base'. Obviously such programming would be hunted for and scrubbed when he was reprogrammed, but just in case, he may have been told to not uplink with any Rebel equipment directly. In the Imperial base on Scarif though? Free and clear, an Imperial droid in an Imperial base.

I think that latter idea is most probable. It look like a standard data port on Scarif, the same or similar to what we see R2 connect to on the DS and Cloud City and the Endor bunker, so being wary of phone-home bugs sounds suitably paranoid.

I know it's a small detail, but it was a concentration-breaking "wait, what?" moment.

[Crazedwraith]

Why would there be a dataport on a human console?

[Galvatron]

Endor: Incomplete Death Star ('fully functional' the Emperor says though), but we only see the superlaser firing IIRC and it rotates. No turbolaser fire IIRC.

There were at least some operational turbolaser towers firing at the Falcon and the rebel fighters as they approached the reactor shaft.

Why would there be a dataport on a human console?

For code cylinders?

[Elheru Aran]

Why would there be a dataport on a human console?

For astromech and repair droids, of course. I would expect regular maintenance of vehicle computers to probably be largely done by droid power. Human techs would only be called on when irregularities appear or there's simply not a large number of droids to spare.

Also, 'dataports' could simply be their equivalent of a USB port. No reason that Human Repairman Luke Schmoe couldn't just jack their datapad in to run a specialized program that the onboard computer doesn't have.

[Crazedwraith]

Why would there be a dataport on a human console?

For code cylinders?

Yeah I realised after saying it, it might be a spaceUSB or something. Is there actually an obvious port on the console though?

[Elheru Aran]

Why would there be a dataport on a human console?

For code cylinders?

Yeah I realised after saying it, it might be a spaceUSB or something. Is there actually an obvious port on the console though?

Good question, it's quite possible that K2 simply didn't have a place to jack in.

Has anybody looked at the cross-sections of the U-wing, is there a place for an astromech there or is it more like a modern version of a Skipray, ie. a space-Huey rather than a fighter?

[Elheru Aran]

Endor: Incomplete Death Star ('fully functional' the Emperor says though), but we only see the superlaser firing IIRC and it rotates. No turbolaser fire IIRC.

There were at least some operational turbolaser towers firing at the Falcon and the rebel fighters as they approached the reactor shaft.

Fair point. I haven't seen ROTJ in probably 9 years, so yeah.

How far away exactly was the Rebel fleet from the DS? Can't have been much more than a few miles, certainly within visual distance.

Perhaps only a few turbolasers on the DS were operational for point defense purposes? It would make sense for the reactor-shaft opening to be defended against surprise attacks, for example...

[Galvatron]

How far away exactly was the Rebel fleet from the DS? Can't have been much more than a few miles, certainly within visual distance.

As far as possible, probably, since they were engaging the Imperial fleet at close range (up until the very end of the battle, I'd assume). I wouldn't even be surprised if the bigger rebel ships maneuvered themselves so that there were ISDs between them and the DS2.

Perhaps only a few turbolasers on the DS were operational for point defense purposes? It would make sense for the reactor-shaft opening to be defended against surprise attacks, for example...

Maybe. There are least three turbolaser towers shown firing at the rebel fighters from the vicinity of the reactor shaft, but I doubt the Empire ever expected to need them (for that battle, at least).

[Elheru Aran]

How far away exactly was the Rebel fleet from the DS? Can't have been much more than a few miles, certainly within visual distance.

As far as possible, probably, since they were engaging the Imperial fleet at close range (up until the very end of the battle, I'd assume).

Perhaps only a few turbolasers on the DS were operational for point defense purposes? It would make sense for the reactor-shaft opening to be defended against surprise attacks, for example...

Maybe. There are least three turbolaser towers shown firing at the rebel fighters from the vicinity of the reactor shaft, but I doubt the Empire ever expected to need them (for that battle, at least).

Oh, no. Just as a matter of basic security. Same reason they have a couple of Star Destroyers and a shield over Scarif. Not really expecting an attack... but just in case. And, I mean, the reactor shaft is a big ol' gaping hole into the middle of the Death Star, right? Maaaaaaybe you wanna watch that a little bit carefully? Doesn't even have to be an attack. Could just be a literal industrial accident-- some droid-freighter carrying a load of proton torpedoes goes off its path because it's being driven by a Trade Federation fighter droid brain that wasn't ever quite reprogrammed after the war...

[Shroom Man 777]

Maybe the U-Wing was shitty and its data-ports were broken or some of the patched-on components weren't connected to the data-port so K2 had to use a keyboard.

[Galvatron]

Maybe the U-wing is an ancient ship that was hauled out of mothballs and it doesn't have "modern" data ports.

[Lord Revan]

Maybe the U-Wing was shitty and its data-ports were broken or some of the patched-on components weren't connected to the data-port so K2 had to use a keyboard.

that's actually sort of a good point, the rebels don't exactly have unlimited supplies at this point it's possible that high-end components like those dataports might not be a high priority (at least for U-wings) I mean the ship seems to fly just right without having K2 plug in so that's not needed.

there's also the fact that Yavin IV base is probably the only rebel base where full data on the Rebel Alliance cells is kept while most cells would only have data on themselves and a contact to Alliance HQ, so not having dataports that just any droid can plug in and download what ever they want then transmit that data to imperial high command is not a bad idea.

[Shroom Man 777]

Due to the risk of capture, Cassian and other Fulcrum agents and all sorts of other operatives might have keyboards instead of those USB-plugs? It could be some encoder device. Not only do you need the code, but you also need that killer app called fingertips!

And/or because Cassian might've gone around without a droid a lot of times - he didn't have an astromech and a civilian (undercover rebel) with an Imperial intel droid would be suspicious. So because Cassian can't jack into computers, he might've had a keyboard interface attached TO said USB-port. K2 could've detached the keyboard and plugged into the port under it but that might've been too much of a hassle. Heck, unplugging the keyboard might cause the keyboard to reset or they might have to re-program the settings if they reattached the keyboard, because software can be shitty!

[The Romulan Republic]

Considering the amount of forces that the CIS was able to bring to bear across the galaxy, wouldn't it be quite possible for a similar future coalition of systems to conjure up an impressive fleet to attack the DS? In which case it being able to defend itself would be necessary, and not just with the superlaser, which it would be possible to avoid by the simple expedient of keeping your ships in the DS' lee?

I always took that as a given based on Dodonna's description of its defenses having been designed specifically to counter a large-scale assault.

Precisely.

Now mind you, we only see the DS in action in a few fairly restricted and singular conditions. Firstly Rogue One: a test firing on Jedha, and then it appears on the *other* side of a planet from a small fleet action (I don't care what anybody says, that fleet just wasn't that big). Range may have precluded using turbolasers, hence considering using the superlaser. Then Yavin 4, starfighters attacking the DS; not seen as a threat until the exhaust-shaft flaw is demonstrated. Endor: Incomplete Death Star ('fully functional' the Emperor says though), but we only see the superlaser firing IIRC and it rotates. No turbolaser fire IIRC.

Presumably it would have had the capability to resist an attacking fleet, but we simply don't see it, thus we can only assume it on a theoretical basis.

The guy doing the briefing in A New Hope flat-out says the Death Star is designed to resist a large-scale assault, remember. So there's that.

[Galvatron]

Am I the only one who noticed how structurally similar the TIE striker is to the Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor? I wish the TIE striker design had been used by the Jedi during the Clone Wars instead of the, IMO, fugly Eta-2.

[eMeM]

Heresy. Eta-2 is gorgeous.
And lore wise Eta makes more sense - it's a tiny ship - cockpit, engines, guns, and that's it, which makes it fast, agile, and hard to hit, a perfect frame to exploit Jedi superhuman reflexes.

Striker is just yuuuge.

[Galvatron]

Heresy. Eta-2 is gorgeous.

Yuck.

And lore wise Eta makes more sense - it's a tiny ship - cockpit, engines, guns, and that's it, which makes it fast, agile, and hard to hit, a perfect frame to exploit Jedi superhuman reflexes.

I much prefer the Delta-7 Aethersprite-class for that.