[FreeSpaceFreak]

Despite this, they've never appeared to be able to create a Shivan communication device. Either that, or maybe Command didn't want to make one, or dare not make one. This must either mean those, or that communicating with the Shivans is much, much harder to do than reverse-engineer their technology.

They use quantum waves for their comms, right? Perhaps it has something to do with unbreakable encryption. Funny thing is that they seem to have tried to contact us once, on our own (radio?) channels...

[Snail]

They use quantum waves for their comms, right? Perhaps it has something to do with unbreakable encryption. Funny thing is that they seem to have tried to contact us once, on our own (radio?) channels...

You mean in "Speaking in Tongues"? I think they were trying to communicate with Bosch, and some transmissions leaked over to allied channels.

[eliex]

But then the Vasudans totally messed up the whole experiment. By killing that Shivan cruiser, and the Iceni just jumped out without staying over to help might just be the reason why just before they abducted Bosch, they killed the majority of the Iceni's crew.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

But then the Vasudans totally messed up the whole experiment. By killing that Shivan cruiser, and the Iceni just jumped out without staying over to help might just be the reason why just before they abducted Bosch, they killed the majority of the Iceni's crew.

Maybe they started killing the crew on the lower decks before Bosch managed to send some sort of message across to the Shivans to stop.

Or perhaps the Shivans do know what it feels like to get pissed?

[Mongoose]

Or perhaps the menial crew members who weren't in on the whole ETAK thing panicked when Shivans busted down their front door and opened fire.

[S-99]

There was a heck of a lot more going on at gti headquarters than just hybridizing technology. This is very apparent.

[Trivial Psychic]

My back-on-topic-opinion:

I didn't get a chance to read the entire thread, so I don't know if someone has mentioned this, but it wouldn't just involve how the Colossus dies, but how the Shivans ended things, as well as a few things about the Colossus' design.

The idea is, that the Colossus has a new reactor powering it, something enough to seal a node if it blew.  Instead of the blow-up-Capella ending, have the Shivans simply threaten to invade beyond the system into the others.  The Colossus manages to escape from destruction at the hands of the Sath, but takes heavy damage.  The Bastion manages to close the Epsilon-Pegasi node, but the Nerid blows up prematurely, leaving Command with no way to seal the Vega node.  The Colossus jumps in near the Vega node attempting to escape the system, but begins to take heavy fire from multiple shivan capital ships.  Upon hearing of the Nerid's failure, the commander of the Colossus decides to use the ship's advanced reactor to seal the node with, directly sacrificing his ship and crew to save the GTVA from invasion.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

CUT

And there you have it. Another way to end the Colossus.

When I first started this thread, I was wondering if the "Something Else" option was redundant. Good thing it wasn't.

[General Battuta]

But...but...that ruins the overwhelming bleakness of the ending! The Colossus goes from a futile waste to a heroic effort that ultimately pays off.

[S-99]

The idea is, that the Colossus has a new reactor powering it, something enough to seal a node if it blew.  Instead of the blow-up-Capella ending, have the Shivans simply threaten to invade beyond the system into the others.  The Colossus manages to escape from destruction at the hands of the Sath, but takes heavy damage.  The Bastion manages to close the Epsilon-Pegasi node, but the Nerid blows up prematurely, leaving Command with no way to seal the Vega node.  The Colossus jumps in near the Vega node attempting to escape the system, but begins to take heavy fire from multiple shivan capital ships.  Upon hearing of the Nerid's failure, the commander of the Colossus decides to use the ship's advanced reactor to seal the node with, directly sacrificing his ship and crew to save the GTVA from invasion.

This would be a very bland move in the game had V chosen to do it.

[Droid803]

Yeah. The Colossus should die in futility.
That doesn't mean it should just sit there and get roasted though - it should at least try to defend itself.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Irony wins.

[terran_emperor]

If iwas doing FS2: the series/Movie, id have the colossus ram Sath 17, or do something like this:

The Colossus jumps into the middle of a formation of 4 Demon class destroyers, guarding the G-Drax node. The four destroyers are quickly destroyed. Mission then proceeds similar to how it did in the game untill the Beast is destroyed. At this point, the colossus gets mobbed by a swarm of ships;

4 Demons
3 Molochs
6 Liliths

Over the next 5 minutes the colossus destroys 2 of the Demons and Cripples a 3rd, destroys on of the Molochs and blows the Liliths to pieces. The ramaining shivan vessels are destroyed by supporting GTVA forces, ie the cruisers/Corvettes in the Area. However, the colossus is crippled by the onslaught; Hull is ~27%. More than two thirds of the crew are dead, including the most of the senior staff. Weapons are off line, Comms are wacked out. Fires are burning on all decks and huge hull-breeches scar the ship. The landing bays are in ruins, so evacuations is impossible and the reactors are about 10 minutes away from meltdown. Basically, she's virtually dead in space.

At this point Sath 17 jumps in and effectively flips the bird at the Colossus by ignoring it and goes after the other ships in the blockade. The Commanding officer of the Colossus, knowing that his ship is doomed anyway, ignores Commands orders and has the colossus ram the Sathanas, destroying both ships.

My Fates for Various crew members  on the colossus:
Tactical Officer: Killed by scrapnel from the blast that kills the XO
Executive Officer: Killed when a conduit on the CIC area explodes
Command Master Chief (Chief of the Ship (COS): Killed by falling Debris
Helm officer: Beheaded by debris from the same blast as above
Conn Officer: Electrocuted by a surge through his console
Comms officer: Killed when her console explodes in her face
Chief Medical Officer: Killed by a fire in the sickbay
Chief Engineer: Killed by a hull breech.

[Admiral_Stones]

Hum. At 27%?
That seems like pretty much, maybe something like 7% might be better, seems more like the Colly is really on the brink of destruction.

[General Battuta]

I think consoles only explode that much in Star Trek.

Same with 'conduits'.

[terran_emperor]

Nah Pipes and fuel line blow out all the time in Submarine combat. Conduit=Fuel/power line. I've also seen work stations blown out in things other than Trek.

okay maybe not 27%, how about 13.5% admiral

[General Battuta]

Given the way Freespace ships are designed, I'd think it more likely that the crew remains largely untouched (due to the protection of the inner hull) until very low hull percentages, and then dies en masse when the ship explodes.

[Snail]

When the Pheonicia dies it says something about casualties on all decks, so I'm not sure.

[terran_emperor]

The over half the crew of the pheonicia is killed in Sath#1's opening volley...As to the phoenicia dying, well that's hit and miss for me. Sometime she jumps out, and some times she doesn't thus i treat each replay of the mission/campaign as an alternate timeline of events

anyway
in every mission where you are protectin escape pods that are being launched from a ship they do make mention of the evacuation of survivors

[General Battuta]

When the Pheonicia dies it says something about casualties on all decks, so I'm not sure.

I think NGTM1-R (who kind of spearheaded the inner hull/outer hull analysis) took this to mean that the Phoenicia's inner hull was really ravaged by those BFReds, and that the crew casualties were very much unusual.