Top 10 Badass Starships from Science Fiction
By Jamie Sawyer
As an author writing space opera, I’ve got to know my stuff about what makes a starship kick some serious butt. Let’s take a look at the 10 most badass starships from the multiverse of science fiction…
- USS Sulaco (Aliens)
A Conestoga-class troop transport, the Sulaco was assigned to the Colonial Marine strikeforce sent to investigate a particularly caustic breed of xenomorph on the planet LV-426. Carrying smart missiles, phased plasma pulse rifles, RPGs and sonic-electronic ballbreakers, as well as a complement of nukes (it’s the only way to be sure!). Last seen drifting somewhere near the Fiorina-161 system, with minor fire damage…
- USS Enterprise (Star Trek series)
Available in multiple models, the USS Enterprise has appeared in several renditions of the Star Trek series. Equipped with energy shields, torpedo batteries and a warp drive for fast time-space travel. She was destroyed in the original series (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), and it looks like she might suffer the same fate in the new continuity (this year’s Star Trek Beyond)…
- Rodger Young (Starship Troopers)
Featuring in both the book and movie of the same name. Another corvette, the Rodger Young is a fast troop transport used to ferry Mobile Infantry to planetary drop zones. The Rodger Young escaped the Battle for Klendathu intact (which is more than can be said for most of the Fleet), and is currently under the command of Captain Carmen Ibanez.
- Event Horizon (Event Horizon)
Equipped with an experimental gravity drive, the Event Horizon is a one-of-a-kind starship that creates artificial black holes to travel through space-time. That might sound convenient, but it has an unfortunate effect on the sanity of crewmembers. Sans crew, the Horizon was found drifting in deep-space in 2047: the fate of the rescue party sent to investigate the ship is currently unknown…
- SSV Normandy (Mass Effect series)
“Normandy” is in fact the name of two starships in the Mass Effect universe. The original Normandy SR-1 was succeeded by Normandy SR-2. Both ships are under Commander Shepard, and feature cutting edge stealth and weapons tech.
- Battlestar Galactica (Battlestar Galactica)
Also available in at least two continuities, the Battlestar Galactica has escaped destruction by the Cylons in both the original 1978 TV series and the 2004 reimagining. Capable of hyper jump travel, and with enough Vipers and Raptors to see off all but the most determined Cylon raiding party.
- Serenity (Firefly series)
The Serenity is a Firefly-class multipurpose transport ship, under the command of Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds. Named after the battle at Serenity Valley, the Serenity is equipped with an accelerator core by way of drive. She’s one of the smaller ships on this list, but also one of the toughest to fly the ‘Verse.
- MCRN Rocinante (The Expanse series)
No, the Rocinante is not Don Quixote’s horse, but instead a Martian Navy corvette. Originally known as the Tachi, and renamed when she was commandeered by Captain James Holden. The Rocinante is equipped with a very efficient Epstein drive as well as a complement of torpedoes. One of the few ships on this list to be in current active service, the Rocinante has featured in several Expanse novels as well as the new ScyFy TV series of the same name.
- Vengeful Spirit (Horus Heresy series)
The Vengeful Spirit is a Gloriana-class battlebarge and probably the largest starship on this list. Originally the flagship of the loyalist legion the Luna Wolves, and latterly the base of operations for the traitor legion the Sons of Horus. Under the iron command of Warmaster Horus. If the speed by which she is moving on Terra is anything to go by, the Spirit is also probably equipped with the slowest warp-drive of any ship on this list!
- Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)
A Corellian YT-3000 light freighter, owned by infamous smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca. Last seen in a scrap yard on the planet Jakku. Carries a fast hyperdrive. What’s not to like about a starship that can make the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs!?!
If you’re after more starship-based action, check out Jamie Sawyer’s new book THE LAZARUS WAR: ARTEFACT – featuring more badass starships and more ship-to-ship combat than you can shake a stick at.
