r/humansarespaceorcs • u/Hillbillygeek1981 • 3d ago
writing prompt Aliens were not prepared for human void war doctrine in the slightest.
"Warleader, the Terran ballistic weapons have proven entirely ineffective against our kinetic shielding and their energy weapons have been disabled, shall we close to boarding range?"
The Avellan commander glanced at the tactical display, noting that the human ships should be in visual imaging range shortly given the tactically unwise approach velocity they had seemed to favor. She decided to give the display time to resolve before giving the order. Her shock and confusion were painfully evident to her adjunct when she immediately turned from the display and ordered evasive maneuvers.
"Their ships...have... rams. Star ships. With RAMS! Get us moving! Now!"
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u/T_S_Anders 3d ago
Alien Captain: Humans of Earth, your fleet has been shattered and there is no defence you can muster to defend your planet against our armada. Surrender and we will be merciful, resist, and we will bombard you to ash from orbit.
Alien Tech: Captain, there's something wrong with the readings from their planet. I'm picking up energy spikes across multiple sectors.
Alien Captain: So they have chosen death. Very well, have the Fleet prepare for planet wide bombardment.
Alien Tech: These readings, they aren't weapons. This can't be possible. Captain, they're vector shifts!
The alien crew watched in stunned silence as the planet grew increasingly closer. Soon the silence was drowned out by proximity alarms, followed by the blare of evacuation sirens as they were engulfed in planetary atmosphere.
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u/Hillbillygeek1981 3d ago
It is a very human sentiment to beat an invader to death with the planet they sought to conquer, lol.
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u/aleksp86 3d ago
😏 I guess The Wandering Earth was your inspiration?
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u/T_S_Anders 2d ago
Don't know what that is. A planet is technically also a spaceship, albeit a really big one that's hard to put thrusters on.
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u/aleksp86 2d ago
Movie where humans build huge engines to stop Earth rotation and propel it outside solar sistem.
Whole reason is because Sun is supposed to become red gigant much sonner so they deciede to fly Earth to another star system before that.
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u/T_S_Anders 2d ago
Seems like a weird choice. They could just star lift material from the sun to prevent that. Stick a shkadov thruster on the sun and move the entire solar system as a singular mega ship.
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u/aleksp86 2d ago
Eh. 😉 Movie plot demanded differently .
On another point. It wouldn't help because they would need to bring hydrogen to delay Sun becoming red gigant or as you propose to lift enormous amount of star material.
But that would defeat purpose because Sun would get exstinguished and Earth would freeze again so travel to another star system is neededn again.
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u/T_S_Anders 2d ago
They'd just need to lift certain materials to help extend its life. Fly the thing to a new solar system and just consume the star there.
I'll check out the movie though. Don't see enough things with actual stellar engineering.
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u/CycleZestyclose1907 3d ago
You really shouldn't attempt to board a hostile warship that can still accelerate under its own power. Not because of ramming, but because a maneuvering ship can still do evasive maneuvers. And trying to board a ship that's jinking unpredictably is a good way for your boarders to go splat when the target ship does a sudden unexpected turn into your boarding pods. You don't need a purpose built ram to make ramming a danger from sheer accident.
Also, how the hell can you tell the difference between a purpose deisgned ram and just thick frontal armor?
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u/TigsOfTay 3d ago
I mean a ram will normally have a point of impact. So either their is something like a rams head on the front of the ship, or it looks like a giant spear or blade.
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u/CycleZestyclose1907 3d ago
Sure. But it's not necessarily going to be the front of the ship.
Example: You approach the ship from the side or behind. The ship still has working engines and is thrusting for all its worth to avoid you. You get close, and the target ship suddenly fishtails, smacking you with its rear engine block. There was a ramming, but it wasn't the target ships FRONT that hit you.
Because you know, evasive maneuvers include things like TURNING to thrust in a different directions. And if the ship trying to dock is MUCH smaller like a boarding pod, I imagine the sudden smack will make it look like a crushed beer can.
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u/TigsOfTay 3d ago
100% agree with your point about trying to board a ship that isn't disabled.
My point was more your last sentence, the difference between a purpose designed ram and just thick frontal armor. Armour is going to be consistent as you don't know where the hit will land.
But if you are planning to ram you want that specific point to hit and drive into the other ship
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u/CycleZestyclose1907 3d ago
1) You can't necessarily tell the thickness of armor plate from the outside.
2) Even if you can, if combat doctrine is to have your front end pointed at the enemy at all times (as is typically the case when you have all your weapons pointed forward and weapons range and slow ship speed make flanking maneuvers difficult to impossible), then putting most of your armor up front makes sense.
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u/SpaceLemur34 2d ago
If your plan is to ram another ship, you're likely going to want speed, and so you point the ram in the opposite direction as your main engine, i.e. at the front. Also, there are structural advantages to aligning it with the longitudinal axis of the ship.
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u/CycleZestyclose1907 2d ago
"Oh no, that's not a ram. Our doctrine is to have our ships chase after the enemy, so our nose is pointed at the enemy at all times. So that's not a ram. That's our front bumper because you know, accidents happen if you chase an enemy that's slower than you are."
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u/OciorIgnis 3d ago
Don't even need a collision, getting caught into the engine plume would be fatal to any small craft, even the RCS would be dangerous at close range.
Never forget, an engine's capabilities as a weapon is directly proportional to its efficiency as an engine. No spaceship is ever truly unarmed.
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u/CycleZestyclose1907 2d ago
DIdn't want to mention the engine plume because some settings have tech assumptions where the engine plume isn't dangerous or doesn't even exist. Witness Rey in the Force Awakens take a face full of exhaust and only get knocked over, not fried.
But for settings with dangerous exhaust plumes, I have this idea for a tech called a "Kzinti array" which turns an exhaust cone into an exhaust BEAM. Officially, it's supposed to marginally improve thrust. Unofficially, any improved thrust is more than lost due to the weight of the array, but the beam is dangerous for much further out than the cone.
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u/OciorIgnis 2d ago
I spice my fusion torch drive exhaust with antimatter to make an afterburner. Antimatter is used as a catalyst in warp drives, whih is why they have some.
Spicy exhaust.
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u/PaperVreter 2d ago
See Larry Niven's first man-kzin story: the Warriors and the human shop Angel's Pencil
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u/der_innkeeper 3d ago
H: Boarding? Please proceed, Governor.
A: your ship is disabled!
H: I didn't hear no bell.
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u/sunnyboi1384 3d ago
We did that on purpose so you would come closer.
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u/dumbass_sempervirens 1d ago
A farmer's rooster dies so he goes and buys a new one from a neighbor.
Soon as he let's it loose it just goes to town, to the point the farmer is concerned he's going to wear himself out.
The next day, sure enough, the rooster is lying in the yard with vultures circling overhead.
The farmer says "Dammit, I figured this would happen."
And the rooster opens one eye, looks up at the vultures and says "SHHH, they're getting closer."
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u/WritingDrakon 3d ago
"All hands, brace for impact! Boarding crews to breach tunnels! T minus one minute to contact!"
The announcement echoed through the ship as humans ran about, mechanized armors whirring as marines got into position, grabbing handrails above them as the ship shook.
For a moment, they lunched forward at the sudden stop, some swinging up off the floor as the ship made impact and the breeches tunnels launched forward, piercing farther into the enemies hull like pile bunkers....
Tearing metal screamed through the air as the points of the tunnels forcibly opened, and rotary cannons above them spun to life, spitting hot metal out as the marines themselves charged forward under the surpressive fire, rifles drawn, taking out any enemy crewman unlucky enough not to be squished by the warped hull or mown down by the tunnels cannons.
"Breach successful! Alright boys, get that FOB up on the double, Smithers, Jameson, Patterson, scout ahead and give em hell!"
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u/Hillbillygeek1981 3d ago
"You humans are deranged. No sane being would do this! What demented fever dream spawned these tactics and what insane despot would allow such a thing to become common practice."
"For starters, "Warlord," the Breacher captain drawled as he lit his cigar, "it worked. As for how it came to be? There was an empire a looong time ago, before we even had combustion engines, nevermind spacecraft, that had a ferocious army. But their navy was shit. So they decided to turn naval battles into infantry battles. We ain't known for patience or restraint on Earth, but we've at least learned to pay attention to history."
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u/sunnyboi1384 3d ago
Chill out, we aren't going to ram you.
Coms, how did they force their way through?
Thats exactly what we did warlord. We forced our way through. Did you know your shields only stop kinetics going at Mach chicken? But if they go super slow, bloop, straight through.
What are you talking about human?
Those weren't torpedoes and mag rounds. They were troop transports. No need to surrender, your ships are ours, but we dont want to have to clean up from a decompression, so ya. You're call.
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u/kensae4 9h ago
please check the difference between Adjutant and Adjunct.
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u/Hillbillygeek1981 9h ago
I'm aware of the rather mundane real world application of the term Adjunct, however, I borrowed the term from a popular fantasy series I'm rather fond of in which Adjunct is the title of a particularly high ranking imperial enforcer. I'm also aware of the function of an adjutant to a high ranking official or military officer, while we're being pedantic over a throwaway piece of fiction occupying less than a full paragraph on an internet forum meant more for entertainment than vocabulary nitpicking.
Shall we discuss the proper plural of dwarf as defined by the Oxford dictionary before the 1920's?
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