Empire versus Federation

I think that either Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader (taking them as different characters) could defeat Starfleet single handed if he was piloting a B-Wing.

It can be difficult to compare the offensive and defensive capacities of say the Empire and the United Federation of Planets, but I would say it is certain that the defensive systems (shields) used by Starfleet are not capable of absorbing 100% of the energy from most offensive weapons systems.
Similarly, the weapons on a B-Wing (Star Wars: Rebels season two) are comparable to a starship's phasers on a higher setting. Combined with his obvious piloting skill, Vader could easily defeat Starfleet one task force at a time.
A caveat: this ultimately assumes however that Starfleet will not "fight dirty". Considering the wide array of weapons that the Federation is actually capable of using, they could inflict massive casualties on the Empire using "biogenic" weapons, "metaphasic" ships (both invisible and capable of flying through physical matter ) and torpedoes, ships that can fire while cloaked and last, but by no means least, the Genesis Device.

I've been fascinated by Anakin's statement in Phantom Menace that he dreamt he was a Jedi and "came back and freed all the slaves". What if this happened instead and was the crisis/ catalyst that started the Clone Wars and began Anakin's downfall? I suggest we see Anakin as a three-year old (perhaps) then at age ten or twelve then he leaves the Jedi Temple as part of the Trials. Around this time Palpatine is close to the (or head of) the Galactic government. He befriends Anakin and confides that Anakin's mother sold him to the Jedi Order to pay off her debts to the Hutts.

When we next hear about Anakin, the Senate is in uproar over a slave rebellion and commissions an army to either quell the rebellion or retake several hundred systems which seceded in protest at the Senate's inactions. It transpires that Anakin is (one of) the leader(s) of the rebellion which causes Kenobi to be expelled from the Jedi Order (more dramatically he could even turn to the Dark Side).

This scenario perhaps allows the Senate to issue a bounty on Kenobi which is taken up by Jango Fett. Kenobi escapes after killing Fett and orphaning Boba, which leads to him discovering the army of Fett clones purchased/commissioned on the Republic's behalf. Meanwhile, Palpatine contacts Anakin and convinces him that his rebellion is futile. Through a convoluted series of events, Anakin discovers Palpatine is also Darth Sidious. This leads him to renounce the rebellion and convince his followers to re-join the Republic. Meanwhile, Kenobi locates and confronts Anakin, which results in Anakin's permanent injuries and his acceptance of the Darth Vader persona. The reason for this is simply because Kenobi and the Jedi have no knowledge of Anakin's surrender and Palpatine's alter ego; moreover the Jedi would not inform Kenobi of any updates on current affairs while he goes off on his "idealistic crusade". Anakin's rebel ex-slaves join with the surviving clones in forming the bulk of the Imperial military.

As an addendum, Sidious deliberately sets up the Alliance to Restore the Republic hoping (or predicting) that a potential apprentice will kill and replace Vader-either through fearing that Vader will overthrow him or that Vader would soon prove unsuitable as a successor to the Sith legacy.

Final edit B5 commisioned ranks and positions

As far as I can tell based on watching episodes, the chain of command works (in terms of positions) as follows:

General
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant
so orders have to go through the commander to get to the lieutenant

I'm making an educated guess that ranks below general, based on episodes "Survivors" and "Spider in the Web" are:
Major
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Sergeant
Lieutenant
as a partial list of Psi Corps ranks is given in "Spider in the Web" (those underlined), bearing in mind that sometimes to avoid confusion Lieutenant Commander is just Lieutenant (as in most navies), Sergeant is First Lieutenant and Lieutenant is Second Lieutenant (as in most armies)

Also, junior officers always seem to be referred to as lieutenant and, other than Major Ed Ryan, current and former starship commanders are always referred to as captain. Majors Ryan and Kemmer ( "Survivors") are described as aides to a general; the rank could be a position but this seems unlikely.
It would be easy to assume something along the lines of using staff ranks for army (i.e., Brigadier General to Five Star General) for the admiralty and navy ranks for all other commissioned officers (Captain down to ensign) but this is contradicted by the use of characters having the rank of colonel.

Garibaldi confirms the existence of admirals even though they are never seen but perhaps in the field they are referred to as either general or captain.

Update:  It does seem that Earth Force officers hold two ranks simultaneously. Corwin is referred to as a Second Lieutenant in season two but he is promoted from Lieutenant (junior grade) to full Lieutenant. Takeshima is described as both a Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Commander.
I can't say that major is a position given to a general's aide because of the character Major Krantz.
I think this can be clarified if we consider Earth Force to be two organisations: the space navy and off-world security. The position of captain exists in title only.

So for the navy*:
Admiral (one to five star)
then
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Major*
Lieutenant
Lieutenant (junior grade)
Ensign

 

and infantry/security:
General (one to five star)
then
Colonel
Major
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Sergeant
Lieutenant

I think it best if we assume that in general the latter ranks are generally used. Therefore a former star ship captain, Lochley, can be promoted to Colonel and a Colonel can outrank a Commander.

*The only discrepancy could be in the first series, which implies that the ranking systems used refer to that used by the Royal Air Force and most Armies, hence "Major" Kemmer.

From series two the following system could be used for the main ranks, with naval terminology only used aboard warships
General etc.
Colonel
=Captain (Navy)

Lieutenant Colonel
=Commander/(either rank referred to as) Major (with comparison to separate branches of the service)

Commander
=Lieutenant Commander (Navy)

Lieutenant Commander
=Lieutenant (Navy)

First Lieutenant
=Lieutenant (junior grade) (Navy)
(or Gunnery Sergeant in some cases)

Second Lieutenant=Ensign (Navy)
(or Pilot Officer, especially in series one referring to Sinclair's Earth Force career)


 

Jack Sparks

Thought I'd post a review of "The Last Days of Jack Sparks".....on Legal Sméagol. Ha ha.
#JackSparks
Just finished named novel, couldn't help thinking of the following lyrics. Really sums the novel up, no spoilers, but the book ends up being a supernatural odyssey of self-harm and time-travelling ghosts. Or is it?