Forum:Question about ships in the Halo universe

Hello, I have a question that I haven't seen answered on this wiki yet so I could use some help with this. You see me and my friend we were having a discution about what universe would win in a fight. Halo or Star Wars. Now I said that the power of the Forruners alone would probably be enough to destroy and kill everyone in the Star Wars universe, given there general power and there massive armie. Anyway my friend had a very good point, wouldn't an EMP be able to take down a covenant/UNSC ship? Or do they have defences against these kinds of things? Dawnofdoom999 20:23, 29 April 2011 (EDT)


 * I don't see how you can have anti-EMP technology.--  Fore  run  ner '' 20:25, 29 April 2011 (EDT)


 * Aren't the MJOLNIR suits resistant to EMPs? Dawnofdoom999 20:47, 29 April 2011 (EDT)


 * I don't recall reading that. Radiation is to MJOLNIR as it is to many other electronic equipments - it deactivates. Kat died because the glassing of New Alexandria released electromagnetic radiation that compromised her suit, deactivating her shielding system. --  Fore  run  ner '' 21:07, 29 April 2011 (EDT)


 * I have always considered the Forerunners and the Star Wars civilisations to be relative equals in terms of technology and weaponry. A fight between those two would probably be decided by training, skill, logistics, and a bit of luck than technology. In Halo, there are examples of Covenant ships' shields being taken down by electromagnetic pulses from nuclear weapons (possibly system generated electromagnetic pulses, or SGEMPs), which suggests they don't have the shielding for it. It is possible to provide some protection against EMPs, for example, if you use optical fibres for electricity transfer instead of copper wire (does anyone know if conductive polymers would provide the same protection?), or if you surround the device with a Faraday cage to nullify some of the effect. Neither method is perfect, however. Just to head off the question, in a fight between UNSC or Covenant ships and Star Wars ships, Star Wars wins every time, no question.--The All-knowing Sith&#39;ari 04:40, 30 April 2011 (EDT)


 * Well in terms of our disscution, I seem to thin Covenant ships are relatively close in teck to star wars ships so I think the forruners would just completly destroy most to all starwars ships. And considering the fact that most to all soldiers in star wars go down in 1 hit from a lazer, I think the covenant would have the upper hand. And on topic here, I'm not very sure if i'm right here but isin't an EMP supposed to take down tecknologie? Not just minorly annoy it for a few seconds? E.G. a spartans shields going down for like a minute and not completely shutting down the armor? Same with covenant ships? Dawnofdoom999 09:11, 30 April 2011 (EDT)


 * Kat's shield system was disabled for as long as it was interfered by the electromagnetic radiation. After further research, I have found that in at least three occasions (two during the Battle of Chi Ceti IV and once on the unidentified colony featured in the Halo: Reach trailer) a nuclear device has failed to penetrate a Covenant vessel's shielding.


 * The first usage, above Chi Ceti IV, was a detonation from outside the shielding array - the shielding system had enough energy to completely absorb contact without any damage effecting the vessel, proper (note that a nuclear detonation in vacuum is very weak, and would only the remotest danger when in contact with the shields, which merely absorbed the detonation).
 * The second and third usages were within a Covenant vessel, itself. In both cases the shielding system acted the same as the first usage, reversing the intent of the shields by keeping the energy released by the detonation within the area - this ensures a 1:1 kill ratio due the highly-concentrated energy as it wipes out the entire ship. I assume that the shielding system is heavily protected (perhaps even vacuum-sealed), and able to keep the shields active long enough for the detonation to end.

Another usage - a fourth, detonated within a carrier within the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose. This was from a high-yield warhead, a "NOVA". The detonation, in fact, was powerful enough to completely anihilate the vessel (including its shielding system, or perhaps powerful enough to travel straight through) and systematically travel through vacuum and destroy vessels in the immediate vicinity before moving off to other nearby vessels and so on. The energy released fromm the detonation and added energy from the destruction of nearby ships finally ended after it had split a moon in two and caused the apocalypse on one side of the nearby planet.

The first two instances suggest that Covenant shielding technology is unaffected by electromagnetic radiation, while the fourth denounces it. Yet another instance relating to shielding was in the 2530s when Dr. Halsey's cryo-pod was captured. The Covenant fleet's shields failed due to electromagnetic radiation in the vicinity.

Based on all of these examples, I conclude that the Covenant shields are resistant only to certain bandwidths of the electromagnetic spectrum.--  Fore  run  ner '' 10:11, 30 April 2011 (EDT)


 * That would make sense, Forerunner: Faraday cages can only shield electronics from certain bandwidths of the spectrum, leaving them vulnerable to others (or something). Thus, no piece of equipment can be completely protected from an EMP. Perhaps the ship at Chi Ceti had the appropriate shielding and was at the right distance to avoid the worst of the EMP. Furthermore, plasma, under certain circumstances, can absorb electromagnetic radiation, which is the reason for plasma stealth research projects, so perhaps the Unrelenting's shields saved it (if they are plasma-based, which I think they are). In another incident, Keyes succeeded in unshielding two Covenant ships at Sigma Octanus IV using the EMP from a nuclear detonation, which further reinforces your point, suggesting that the ships were too close to the detonation, and/or lacked appropriate shielding and grounding of their electronics to avoid a system-generated EMP. Oh, and I fixed your spelling error.--The All-knowing Sith&#39;ari 10:29, 30 April 2011 (EDT)


 * The English language is unreliable when spelling based on sound - an alternative spelling for "fish" is G-H-O-T-I.-- Fore  run  ner '' 10:59, 30 April 2011 (EDT)

Someone once made this image as a comparison between Covenant and Imperial Ships. Doesn't answer the strength question, but can provide some insights. Tuckerscreator (stalk ) 14:57, 30 April 2011 (EDT)

Oh, and Ghoti is awesome. Tuckerscreator (stalk ) 14:57, 30 April 2011 (EDT)