Sci Fi power ranking

[18-Till-I-Die]

#1Xeelee--the epitome of wank and the worst kind of crap to me but to each their own.

Huh. Why d'you think the Xeelee are wank and "the worst kind of crap"? You read the books, or just hear the occasional comment about 'em?

I'm reading one of the main books in the series now, and have had numerous discussions where basically the entire story has been explained in some detail to me.

I'm sure you agree the Xeelee are pure wank. If you think the Galactic Empire, Culture or Lensmen are wank you must agree the Xeelee are pure wank too.

"The worst kind of crap" is becaus ethey exist, in universe, simply as a way for the author to explain why something happens. They arent a race, man, they're a god damn writer's crutch. Sky exploded, must be the Xeelee. Dolphins can see God, must be teh Xeelee. Oh so the universe is collapsing and turning into chocolate? Damn you Xeelee!

It's not just poor writing, it's spitting in the face of science fiction literature.

I'm sorry to all Xeelee fans, i certainly dont mean to insult you. But i do mean in every possible way to insult the Xeelee.

[Dahak]

#1Xeelee--the epitome of wank and the worst kind of crap to me but to each their own.

Huh. Why d'you think the Xeelee are wank and "the worst kind of crap"? You read the books, or just hear the occasional comment about 'em?

I'm reading one of the main books in the series now, and have had numerous discussions where basically the entire story has been explained in some detail to me.

I'm sure you agree the Xeelee are pure wank. If you think the Galactic Empire, Culture or Lensmen are wank you must agree the Xeelee are pure wank too.

"The worst kind of crap" is becaus ethey exist, in universe, simply as a way for the author to explain why something happens. They arent a race, man, they're a god damn writer's crutch. Sky exploded, must be the Xeelee. Dolphins can see God, must be teh Xeelee. Oh so the universe is collapsing and turning into chocolate? Damn you Xeelee!

It's not just poor writing, it's spitting in the face of science fiction literature.

I'm sorry to all Xeelee fans, i certainly dont mean to insult you. But i do mean in every possible way to insult the Xeelee.

I really don't know where you get your ideas from...
The Xeelee are not the reason why bad things happen.
And most stories don't even feature the Xeelee, or only in passing statements.

[Morat]

Star Wars also has supernova-inducing bombs. Mass produce that, put it in ISDs and those hyperdrive capable TIEs and you've got a big problem also.

True, but nova bombs are already widely available within the High Guard. If the decision was made to utterly annihilate the Galactic Empire, it could be carried out in a matter of days (assuming they already know the locations of Imperial planets at that point).

[NecronLord]

True, but nova bombs are already widely available within the High Guard. If the decision was made to utterly annihilate the Galactic Empire, it could be carried out in a matter of days (assuming they already know the locations of Imperial planets at that point).

They have fifty million bombs ready to go do they?

[Sharp-kun]

The Space Monsters from Gunbuster should probably rank somewhere in the higher end. Number in the billions, can surivive inside stars with no shields, naturally warp capable, apparently very inteligent etc.

[RedImperator]

I said it in the previous thread and I'll say it here--the Kilrathi and the Terran Confederation should be reversed. The Kilrathi only lost because one human pilot managed to drop a deus ex machinia on their homeworld (after sneaking through a series of jump points that led straight to Kilrah that somehow the Kilrathi never noticed and the Terrans discovered just in the nick of time). If some AA gunner gets lucky and hits Blair before he can release the temblor bomb, the Confederation gets crushed.

As for Firefly, with only 14 episodes, no clear statement on how far they're actually traveling (though claiming they're in one system is just silly), and one incident to gauge capital ship firepower, it's tough to quantify exactly, but they should be near the low end. They haven't performed any feat that require the amount of energy we see higher-end civilizations routinely perform. The best I can definitively say is that they're above the Race, with FTL travel and spread out over dozens of planets, not just three.

[Vanas]

Some above modern humanity, but lower than most:

Order of the New Dawn (Ground Control):
FTL capability (Speed unknown, but interstellar travel appears common), energy and plasma based weapons, hover tanks, however their one seen capital ship doesn't appear armed.

Crayven Corporation (Ground Control):
Equal FTL to the OND, the CSS Astrid is at least several miles long, ingnoring the drive chain (low STL cause of Fusion drives, I'd imagine). Cap ship cannons do no visible damage to OND cruiser, but do scare it off (look like medium guns). Rely on tracked vehicles and conventional projectile weapons.

Liandri Coproration (Unreal Series)
Fast FTL? (The Oblivion appears to be nearing it's destination, a number of inhabited planets make up the tourney arenas).
No seen weapons on their two seen ships, but both were transports. Appear to have a large number of aging short-range star fighters. Wide variety of ground vehicles from anti-grav fighters to traditional tanks. Weapons range from projectile pistols to energy rifles to tactical nukes and Ion Cannons.
May have a (replica) planetary assault weapon. (Skaarj Mothership)

[Morat]

They have fifty million bombs ready to go do they?

No, but they've got enough to destroy millions of solar systems, which should effectively put an end to the Empire. Granted, there would be quite a few planets left, but probably not enough to cause problems.

The High Guard had about 200,000 warships. XMC's carry 40 nova bombs. So, you'd probably looking at around a million or so actively deployed on ships. A minor High Guard base from To Loose the Fateful Lightning had hundreds of nova bombs, so that indicates another million or two. Then, you can add in planet-destroying and planet-leveling conventional weapons, which appear to be more numerous than nova bombs, thus another few million worlds gone.

If that isn't deemed to be enough, the Commonwealth still has vastly greater industrial capacity than the Empire. They could simply build more nova bombs, and take out the rest.

[NecronLord]

While of course, hoping those 200,000 ships don't run into any of the Empire's supposedly hundred million capships.

[18-Till-I-Die]

True, but nova bombs are already widely available within the High Guard. If the decision was made to utterly annihilate the Galactic Empire, it could be carried out in a matter of days (assuming they already know the locations of Imperial planets at that point).

They have fifty million bombs ready to go do they?

Evidence? Fifty million is way more than i recall ever being mentioned in the movies or the EU.

I thought the number of official Empire member worlds was about 10-12 million as said by Han Solo:

"There's only twelve million inhabited planets out there."

The implication i think is that other planets, while under the control of the Empire, would be mostly unimportant, backwater worlds like Tatooine or independant planets such as the Corporate Sector or Hutt Space. I may be wrong though.

[18-Till-I-Die]

And i'd like to knwo where the hundred million starships is from too.

IIRC it was said they COULD build that many ISDs if they needed to, but they never actually did.

Again though, i may be wrong.

Largest numbers i've ever heard were 10 million capital ships including 25,000 ISDs.

[Lord Zentei]

Excellent, I missed out on the earlier thread. Lets see, my $0.02

The Necrons are too high up on the list. They trump anything in the 40K galaxy, but I need some convincing before I see them taking out the Foundation. (Also the two Galactic Empires. If the Necrons can be given good sport by the IoM, they should not rank higher than these three).

The Eldar and Dark Eldar are so exessively far down on the list it isn't funny.

The uberwank Authority universe could be mentioned. They construct virtual/pseudoreal multiverses as supercomputers and trap newborn universes as a power source, travelling between universes and multiverses. Sometimes I get the impression that Warren Ellis doesn't have a clue as to what he is bloody saying.

PS: who are the Bantags and Necromongers?

[18-Till-I-Die]

Necrons can do some prety wacky shit from what i know. Crossing the galaxy in a few minuets, i think, maybe seconds. Plus they can duke it out with the IoM who, regaurdless of claims, are at least on par firepower-wise with the GE and those are their escorts.

They built a dyson sphere. Like a real one. And their masters C'tan might, just might, shrug off a superlaser blast and keep going--or worse absorb it and keep going.

Theres only a handfull though...so they arent at full power yet.

[NecronLord]

The implication i think is that other planets, while under the control of the Empire, would be mostly unimportant, backwater worlds like Tatooine or independant planets such as the Corporate Sector or Hutt Space. I may be wrong though.

It's from the AotC ICS. A million full member Republic worlds. With around fifty dependancies and protectorates..

[NecronLord]

Necrons can do some prety wacky shit from what i know. Crossing the galaxy in a few minuets, i think, maybe seconds.

Half a second.

Plus they can duke it out with the IoM who, regaurdless of claims, are at least on par firepower-wise with the GE and those are their escorts.

IoM cruiser - Dozens of gigatons per second.
Accy - Teratons per second.

Duke it out is a little low. In space the necrons could shit all over the IoM if inclined. Their harvest ships are not warships. The only necron warship we ever saw took on the combined forces of every sentient race left in the 40K galaxy for several minutes before retreating.

They built a dyson sphere. Like a real one. And their masters C'tan might, just might, shrug off a superlaser blast and keep going--or worse absorb it and keep going.

A superlaser blast would go through their natural form. Their necrodermis would be vapourised if that's what you're thinking of.

Hardly. Their avatars would be destroyed. They themselves are giant clouds of plamsa the size of planets. While it might hurt them, it'd likely go straight through.

Theres only a handfull though...so they arent at full power yet.

Hundreds of thousands, inactive. A few million seems like a good estimate.

The C'tan are not.

The true wankiness you have missed. Given time, the C'tan are able to alter the laws of the universe. Cut the Warp off from reality for example.

[Lord Zentei]

Necrons can do some prety wacky shit from what i know. Crossing the galaxy in a few minuets, i think, maybe seconds.

"In the blink of an eye"

[NecronLord]

Oh yes. Their ships can appear and dissappear like B5's shadow vessels.

[18-Till-I-Die]

The implication i think is that other planets, while under the control of the Empire, would be mostly unimportant, backwater worlds like Tatooine or independant planets such as the Corporate Sector or Hutt Space. I may be wrong though.

It's from the AotC ICS. A million full member Republic worlds. With around fifty dependancies and protectorates..

Forgive me if i'm missing something...

This obviously seems to mean the Republic controlled about a million worlds, and, assuming you mean fifty million protectorates etc, there were about fifty million inhabited planets.

The Empire did indeed absorb the old Republic, this is referenced in the movie with mention of a 'million worlds', but i dont think more than a few million or so have ever been attributed to the Empire. Certainly not fifty million.

[NecronLord]

Being a dependancy means that they are under republic control.

More to the point, Tarkin would reffer to the million worlds meaning full member worlds. Not hicksville outer rim, with fourteen people on it.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Being a dependancy means that they are under republic control.

More to the point, Tarkin would reffer to the million worlds meaning full member worlds. Not hicksville outer rim, with fourteen people on it.

Then...it isnt fifty million planets in the Empire.

Fifty million planets in the GALAXY, yes, as in inhabited worlds.

But the Empire is made up of actually far fewer worlds then. Probably closer to the 12 million statement from Dark Empire.

[NecronLord]

There are fifty million Imperial Planets. The Empire has people on fifty million planets. The Empire taxes fifty million planets. The Empire owns fifty million planets. Of these, one million are given the power to elect senators.

Getting it now?

Dark Empire can go fuck itself with a wankatine shaped dildo, the ICS trumps it.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Seems a bit excessive, but considering they control most or all of a galaxy i'm honestly not surprised.

Boy next time i hear the words 'EU' and 'minimalism' i'm gonna laugh.

[NecronLord]

The ICS isn't technically EU (It's G level).

On the other hand, Wank Empire is EU (C level).

The films are the minimalists, in all honesty.

[18-Till-I-Die]

The ICS isn't technically EU (It's G level).

On the other hand, Wank Empire is EU (C level).

If Wank Empire is the one with...oh i think it was a billion star destroyers and about twice as many worlds, which i've been told about, then yeah i agree on that title.

The films are the minimalists, in all honesty.

True. Very true, i've said that myself. Without the EU and fan creations the Empire wouldnt be half the bad ass it is, just using the films.

[Lord Zentei]

What was the actual wording of Dark Empire? Twelve million worlds or twelve million systems?