Of all the sci-fi tvshows and movies out there, I have in my heart a weakness for Star Wars, and all others but were trumped by Firefly. So when I saw that Entertainment Weekly threw these ships of similar occupation in a head to head geek battle, I had to share that with the International Friends.
Millennium Falcon – (modified) YT-1300 Space Transport
”It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.” ”She’ll make point-five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.” Han may brag about his ride, but the Millennium Falcon delivered more often than not. Plus, it had those handy smuggling craters in the floorboards.
VS
Serenity – Firefly Class
This freighter wasn’t designed to be a smuggler’s ship, but a preponderance of hidden nooks and crannies made the conversion incredibly easy. Pretty much defenseless — Firefly-class ships weren’t equipped with weapons — Serenity relied on the ingenuity of her captain and the skill of her pilot.
But before we get into this slugfest I think there are some ground rules. EW’s website says this is a Smuggler Ship faceoff, so let’s keep in mind that it is that very occupation that we will be looking at.
Both captained by scruffy nerf herders. Both have very capable pilots behind the controls. Both very loved by thier owners. But that defines what is IN the ship, not the ship itself.
Lets take these two iconic vessels and compare them. Not the popularity of the movies they come from, not which captain or crew is cooler, not buy which would win in a fight (duh – Falcon has lotsa weapons, Serenity has none) And not which token mechanic is better looking (I pick Kaylee hands down – Chewbacca is not my thing). Which would be the better smuggling ship.
Let’s lay it out like this.
Captain John “Rampage” Campea and his first mate Doug “Crazy Cardigan” Nagy are smugglers. They are in the market to buy a ship.
They approach the lot in a universe where the Empire and the Alliance (from Firefly not the rebels) are the same thing (they aren’t?).
Which ship should they buy? And why?
I would lean towards the Falcon because of the guns. But lets take those out of the equation. For the most part, a Smuggler who gets away is much less wanted than a Smuggler who kills officers of galactic law. Armorments are a last resort for a Smuggler.
Which do you suggest our fictional TMB Smugger team?
