Tantive IV - Why Fight?

[Stravo]

In ANH the rebel marines make a valiant but futile stand against Imperial stormtroopers taking the ship. They must have known there was absolutely no way in hell they were going to win that fight, even if by some astronomical bit of luck they repel the first wave the Imperials will simply send in a seond wave of troopers.

So my question is why fight? I can see if they were trying to bide time for the princess to escape but she didn't even try. I can see if there was a chance at rebel reinforcements showing up, but they weren't.

So what were they trying to do? By fighting and killing Imperial troops they were only making things worse for themselves. They could have simply let the Imperials come on board and tried the old "We're a ship under diplomatic immunity" line and see how far that took them. By fighting it out and killing Imperial troops they were all but saying "We're rebels!" There would be no reason for Vader not to space the lot of them (which he did) and Leia looked more guilty, her excuse laughable after the carnage of the boardng action.

You can say but the Tantive IV was firing on the Devastator. No biggie, there was no way in hell they were going to penetrate the stardestroyer's shields and they could have simply said they were panicking and not sure what the Imperials' intentions were, we're sorry, but hey look, we didn't kill any of your men coming onboard or try to impede your investigation once it all became clear to us what you wanted.

Also - a throw away line by Vader's "Inform the senate that all on board were killed." Now, how reasonable would it be to believe that a diplomatic ship crewed with rebel symptahizers and having Leia on board would have mysteriously fallen under attack and the Devastator just happens to have stumbled across her? I mean I know the Senate is a shadow of its former self by this point but wouldn't this have raised some serious questions? Of course Palpy disbands them a few days later so...*shrug*

[Crossroads Inc.]

IMHO... It comes down to a Colossal "UP YOURS!" On the part of the doomed Tantive...

[The Silence and I]

IMHO... It comes down to a Colossal "UP YOURS!" On the part of the doomed Tantive...

Perhaps, but while the princess herself did not try to escape she did require time to send R2 and 3P0 to the surface...

[Darth Yoshi]

I always thought that the Tantive crew considered themselves expendable for the sake of the Death Star plans. They were buying time for Leia to find a way to get the plans out of Vader's grasp. If they'd have done nothing, Vader would have found the plans and then killed them all anyway.

[jcow79]

Well as you pointed out perhaps it was to bide time for Leia to escape however Leia realized they would be able to detect a lifeform was in an escape pod so she created the message with R2 and sent them off.

[Imperial Overlord]

Leia doesn't try to escape, but she does use the time to get the plans away. She knows that the Imperials will be focused on her, so she uses that to the best possible advantage. As for Vader, he doesn't care about the consequences of force choking Imperial officers who annoy him. He surely knows that the Senate is on the way out. He isn't even trying to make up something plausible. He's saying "fuck you, I wasted them, try to do something about it."

[YT300000]

Well, they were already being shot at by the Star Destroyer (and became immobilized under the fire), so that would set the RoE in that case.

[Cabwi Desco]

Yeah its all to give the princess enough time to do SOMETHING with the plans. In the end the crew gave their lives so a rebel could destroy the death star.

I had a thought.

Tantive IV LETS herself get drug in by the ISD with her reactor powered and doesnt fire a shot. When they bring the ship into the hangar bay they power up the shields and let loose with the turbolasers! Massive chaos in the main bay, major collateral damage and theres no shielding on the inside so when they blast away and hit the TIE fighter refueling tanks, KABOOM! The hold on the vessel is lost and they book it outa there guns blazing, of course they would have to fight through the guns and of course the shield.

Sure its impractical and about a billion and one things could go wrong with it but it would be fuckin' awesome if it worked!

[Lancer]

Yeah its all to give the princess enough time to do SOMETHING with the plans. In the end the crew gave their lives so a rebel could destroy the death star.

I had a thought.

Tantive IV LETS herself get drug in by the ISD with her reactor powered and doesnt fire a shot. When they bring the ship into the hangar bay they power up the shields and let loose with the turbolasers! Massive chaos in the main bay, major collateral damage and theres no shielding on the inside so when they blast away and hit the TIE fighter refueling tanks, KABOOM! The hold on the vessel is lost and they book it outa there guns blazing, of course they would have to fight through the guns and of course the shield.

Sure its impractical and about a billion and one things could go wrong with it but it would be fuckin' awesome if it worked!

The Rebels don't have Han Solo around to cook up that harebrained scheme yet.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Simple. Delay the Imperial boarding party long enough to hide the plans or have the plans ejected from the ship.

[irishmick79]

Also, the Rebels were under the impression they were protecting an ambassador on a diplomatic mission for the Senate. They probably thought that what the Imperials were doing amounted to an unprecedented act of aggression against a diplomatic envoy.

[Solauren]

Also, the fire between the ships, even over Tattooine, would have made it very easy for the person Leia was going to see, Obi-wan Kenobi, to know there was something going on and go out looking for someone looking for him

[Lone_Prodigy]

Tantive IV LETS herself get drug in by the ISD with her reactor powered and doesnt fire a shot. When they bring the ship into the hangar bay they power up the shields and let loose with the turbolasers! Massive chaos in the main bay, major collateral damage and theres no shielding on the inside so when they blast away and hit the TIE fighter refueling tanks, KABOOM! The hold on the vessel is lost and they book it outa there guns blazing, of course they would have to fight through the guns and of course the shield.

Sure its impractical and about a billion and one things could go wrong with it but it would be fuckin' awesome if it worked!

If the Rebels did simply let themselves get pulled in, the Imperials would suspect a trap. Hence they'd probably disable it with ion cannons and precision blasts and send in spacetroopers while keeping the Tantive IV at arm's distance away in case of a bomb.

[Cabwi Desco]

Tantive IV LETS herself get drug in by the ISD with her reactor powered and doesnt fire a shot. When they bring the ship into the hangar bay they power up the shields and let loose with the turbolasers! Massive chaos in the main bay, major collateral damage and theres no shielding on the inside so when they blast away and hit the TIE fighter refueling tanks, KABOOM! The hold on the vessel is lost and they book it outa there guns blazing, of course they would have to fight through the guns and of course the shield.

Sure its impractical and about a billion and one things could go wrong with it but it would be fuckin' awesome if it worked!

If the Rebels did simply let themselves get pulled in, the Imperials would suspect a trap. Hence they'd probably disable it with ion cannons and precision blasts and send in spacetroopers while keeping the Tantive IV at arm's distance away in case of a bomb.

Emphasis mine.

[Wicked Pilot]

Tantive IV LETS herself get drug in by the ISD with her reactor powered and doesnt fire a shot. When they bring the ship into the hangar bay they power up the shields and let loose with the turbolasers! Massive chaos in the main bay, major collateral damage and theres no shielding on the inside so when they blast away and hit the TIE fighter refueling tanks, KABOOM! The hold on the vessel is lost and they book it outa there guns blazing, of course they would have to fight through the guns and of course the shield.

You're asuming that the Imperials don't have a means of telling if a large ship's weapons are powered up. If the Tantive surrendered they'd probably order it to power down before they reeled it aboard.

[Cabwi Desco]

weapons and shields yes, but not necesarily the main reactor.

how long does it take to power up shields? seconds at most I believe. And turbolasers not long after that.

[Wicked Pilot]

weapons and shields yes, but not necesarily the main reactor.

Why not? If it took an insignificant amount of time to power up weapons then you bet your sweet ass that reactor's going offline or else.

[Illuminatus Primus]

They had to power down the main reactor, remember? Doesn't anyone remember the dialog?

[Kazuaki Shimazaki]

So my question is why fight? I can see if they were trying to bide time for the princess to escape but she didn't even try. I can see if there was a chance at rebel reinforcements showing up, but they weren't.

I'd have to agree. At that point, the Marines should have surrendered and offered passive resistance. The effort to tie them up would in itself buy some time. Maybe they can even vent some areas to space (blame the Devastator's shots for that) or break some pipes or do something so they can legitimately seal them off and force them to take more time before reaching the good spots.

Another thing I don't understand is why Leia wasted time recording such a long message. Why doesn't she just slam the datacard into R2 and record "Obi-Wan Kenobi! I'm Leia of Alderaan! I'm in deep shit! Help me!" Then she throws the two droids into the pod, send them off. Then she looks at Lord Vader and says "Death Star plans? What plans? Me, sweet little Leia. Of course not."

You can say but the Tantive IV was firing on the Devastator.

Actually, one could argue the mistake started there.

Also - a throw away line by Vader's "Inform the senate that all on board were killed." Now, how reasonable would it be to believe that a diplomatic ship crewed with rebel symptahizers and having Leia on board would have mysteriously fallen under attack and the Devastator just happens to have stumbled across her? I mean I know the Senate is a shadow of its former self by this point but wouldn't this have raised some serious questions? Of course Palpy disbands them a few days later so...*shrug*

He does elaborate a bit more in the novelization about a meteorite collision that vacated 95% of the atmosphere and to simulate a distress signal. If he puts the correct holes in the Tantive and flings it out, there's a small chance this could work. Basically, I think he was going for an alibi like this:
1) the Tantive IV gets hit by a meteorite.
2) It manages to send out a distress signal before its death.
3) The Devastator happens to pick up that signal.
4) He goes there and realizes they are all dead.
5) He, after an appropriate delay to simulate 3 and 4, informs the Senate, so as to make this look like the correct sequence.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

The main reactor was already down before the Tantive IV was even tractored into the hanger. That one big shot forced the Rebels to shut it down, which ended up rendering them crippled, according to the OT ICS.

[Cabwi Desco]

This is why they shouldnt have fired in the first place.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Who, the Imperials? What the hell are they supposed to do, then? Yell at them?

[Cabwi Desco]

No the rebels shouldnt have fired. When the imps jumped em they shouldve surrendered and... (read above postage)

Of course if the imps pressed the issue things would change mighty quick.

[Wicked Pilot]

The Rebels aren't the French, they're not going to waive the white flag that easily. If they know the Imperials got 'em then they're going to take out as many of them as possible before they go down.

[Smuggler's run]

two reasons. u coulda got a lucky shot.
or u might distract them y u run for hyperspace.