[Androgeos Exeunt]

Many months ago, when I was still stuck to a PC that had FRED2 on it, I tried to create a different version of Their Finest Hour because I was dissatisfied with the way it died, and I came up with some interesting conclusions, including the fact that if the Sathanas' rear LRed was blown, most warships can attack from the stern and win. On one occasion, the Colossus also died in a strange manner; instead of being beamed to death, it actually survived the barrage, but blew up anyway because it had no fighter cover. Canon dictates that the Colossus was beamed to death by the Sathanas while sitting still like a duck, and that will probably remain unchanged, but I'm going to ask this anyway: What sort of ending do you think the Colossus should have?

[lenard27]

I think the Colossus has to be destroyed (at least story-wise) to make the Sathanas look that much more dangerous. However, I think it was definitely an error on  's part to have it be destroyed in such an anticlimactic way. So i voted for being blown up by the Sathanas while fighting. Maybe they should have tried to ram the ship when they knew they had no hope (similar to the end of Star Trek Nemesis, but without surviving). 

[Hellstryker]

*shrug* I think an interesting Idea would've been if [V] had had the collie win, but then get rammed by kamikaze bombers (odd tactic for the shivans, but meh. *insert lame ass excuse here about how if a certain number of saths went boom they couldn't make the star go nova)

[Droid803]

Well, I realized something...
Wouldn't the Colossus have been more of a help to the Bastion if it simply just jumped out and escorted it to the node? I mean, yeah, sure, you can sit there and stop Sathanas #17 for a few seconds, but it seems like the Colossus' captain didn't realize the other Sathanas juggernauts could have simply splashed the Bastion if they wanted to, regardless.
By escorting the Bastion, at least it prevents any odd Ravana from munching it.

However, the story needed the Colossus to die, so I voted that it goes down with a fight. You've got beam cannons. USE THEM!

[General Battuta]

I think the fear was that if the Colossus escorted the Bastion it would draw a Sathanas into the situation.

[Solatar]

We destroyed one Sathanas, but I think it had to be proven at one point that when the Sathanas got to call the battle on its own terms the Collossus stood no chance whatsoever.

I would have liked it if the Collossus had started to look like it was going to put up a huge fight, and then gotten smacked down before it could so much as move. Brutal, I know.

[peterv]

It would be nice to have the Colossus for the post-Capella campaigns.

[TrashMan]

I edited my mission to have the Colossus fight.
Much more enjoyable when it gives the Sathanas a bloody nose. Well, actually it gave it more than a bloody nose since I gave the Collie the overcharged beams so the Sathanas was left will almost 20% hull. Priceless.

[Rodo]

it should have rammed that damn sathanas! just like admiral koth tryed to bring the Colossus itself down... it's just seems to be the natural way of facing invincible enemies to the terrans jajaj

[Droid803]

it should have rammed that damn sathanas!

"Well, crap."

[FreeSpaceFreak]

The result of this vote is becoming very clear already - I also think the Collie should have taken on those Shivans. Ramming the Sath with all beams overcharging, thus taking the Sath with it would have been a much more heroic end IMO.

[admiral_wolf]

The GTVA made a massive error in building it in the first place.  Why dedicate over 20 years to build one superdestroyer when we were in peace time.  Surely it would have been a better choice of both financial and physical resources to build more Hecates, or look into new Destroyer designs.  They put all their eggs in one basket and it failed miserably.

Saying that, it would have been good to see it go in a blaze of glory...

[DREDHAWK]

I dont now how much the Colossus was but im shure for that price they could made quit a few destroyer and Corvettes.  I thot the Colossus was a little underpower anyways 

i do agree it should went down with more of a fight then just siting there getting beam to death

[WMCoolmon]

Well, the Colossus singlehandedly ended the NTF Rebellion without taking any significant losses itself. With multiple destroyers and warships, you'd still be taking severe losses as things went along. Also, the crew could defect and you'd be left with split forces. So it's not a universally better deal - there are political consequences as well as strategic ones.

Even though the GTVA would've been better off with multiple maneuverable ships to face the Sathanas, all of the ships that the GTVA knew of in the Shivan fleet were destroyer-sized or smaller. Against the Lucifer and a Demon and supporting ships, it would've been much more effective.

Additionally the Colossus only had 30,000 crew onboard. A Hecate requires 10,000 crew. The manpower required to build a fleet to equal the Colossus would be much greater than the manpower required for the Colossus itself.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Well, the Colossus singlehandedly ended the NTF Rebellion without taking any significant losses itself. With multiple destroyers and warships, you'd still be taking severe losses as things went along. Also, the crew could defect and you'd be left with split forces. So it's not a universally better deal - there are political consequences as well as strategic ones.

Thie things is, though, that although we do know that the Colossus took down many NTF warships on its own, I've never actually seen it destroy that many warships. It destroyed the Repulse from the bow, so how would warships fare if they hit from the port or starboard sides?

Even though the GTVA would've been better off with multiple maneuverable ships to face the Sathanas, all of the ships that the GTVA knew of in the Shivan fleet were destroyer-sized or smaller. Against the Lucifer and a Demon and supporting ships, it would've been much more effective.

Also note that the Colossus was specifically designed to survive multiple hits from the Lucifer's main guns. This is probably why Commander Habu stated in Bearbaiting that "you must destroy two beam turrets to give the Colossus a fighting chance", and the only reason I can think of is that two BFReds do almost as much damage as the Shivan Super Lasers.

Additionally the Colossus only had 30,000 crew onboard. A Hecate requires 10,000 crew. The manpower required to build a fleet to equal the Colossus would be much greater than the manpower required for the Colossus itself.

The firepower of the Colossus is stated to be 500% more than an Orion, according to the cutscene. Rear-Admiral Koth had 10 000 officers and crew on the Repulse, which is an Orion-class destroyer, so if you do the math, you can either have 30 000 manning the GTVA Colossus, or 50 000 people manning 5 Orions, each with a crew of 10 000.

[DREDHAWK]

I would rather have more smaller maneuverable ships then have one big slow ship.    most of the Sathanas firepower is in the front.  so if you attack it from the rear it would be harder for it to turn around since its slower and since you ship are more maneuverable you can stay in the rear will attacking to with all your beams. 

[Droid803]

Even though the GTVA would've been better off with multiple maneuverable ships to face the Sathanas, all of the ships that the GTVA knew of in the Shivan fleet were destroyer-sized or smaller. Against the Lucifer and a Demon and supporting ships, it would've been much more effective.

Also note that the Colossus was specifically designed to survive multiple hits from the Lucifer's main guns. This is probably why Commander Habu stated in Bearbaiting that "you must destroy two beam turrets to give the Colossus a fighting chance", and the only reason I can think of is that two BFReds do almost as much damage as the Shivan Super Lasers.

The damage of an SSL is closer to a LRed.
Two BFReds are on the Nyarlathotep, but that's a different case altogether. Two BFReds do immensely more damage than two SSLs.

[Akalabeth Angel]

       I voted that it was fine the way it was.
       Some heroic last-ditch attempt is too cliche . . . ram the Sathanas! bah.
       Everything about that mission was pathetic. Pathetic fleet, fighter cover (Colossus damaged), etcetera. Or heck, trying to cause hell and all you're doing is hunting some useless freighters?? Having the Colossus die pitifully was fitting given the story.


       This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Actually, Alakabeth, it did end with a bang...the bang of a disabled Colossus.

[eliex]

The Colossus virtually represents the entire GTVA, and it should have died fighting the Sathanas as every other GTVA ship would to the Shivans.
It's not the success of it, but the meaning of the act itself is what I think.