If "shock and awe" is the purpose of a Super Star Destroyer, then "cause the enemy to pee his trousers" must be the purpose of the technological terror that is a Death Star. That and "blowing up the enemy's planet", of course. Audiences loved each Death Star because, well, who wouldn't love a vessel the size of a moon? These Death Star might have moved slowly, but they had hyperdrives capable of transporting its moon-sized mass across the galaxy, placing any planet within its range given enough time. And it's that ability to move across the stars that allows these space stations to be included on this list of ships - most space stations sit in a single position for the majority of their operational lives (think Babylon 5) and are nowhere near as scary as the Death Star as a result. There were two Death Stars in the movies, but in the Expanded Universe there were some other similar ships, often stripped-down versions, housing just the superlaser.
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
