Story: Space War for Beginners

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An (educational) story by Holbenilord, because space warfare is not what you think and you should really know this before writing space battles.

A Zyrothan's Introduction

"Yer late, lad. The Zyrothan navy ain't paying you to sleep in! Sit down. No, right there.

"As I was sayin', war in space ain't like war at sea or in the air. It's a diff'rent theatre of operations, and almost nothin' is the same. What the PDFs and the TAs learn ain't nothin' like fightin' in the black- and you make the mistake of confusing 'em, you've signed yer own death warrant.

"Space is big and nasty and always out for yer life. Do not take risks cos space don't care and there are ten hundred ways to die. Cos space is big, battles ain't like on holo- we can't even see what we're firin' at visually, most times. Just take their vector and shoot where they're gonna be. We fight from thousands to millions of miles away, but that don't make weapons any less destructive. First law of motion, anything in space as gets goin' keeps goin' cos there ain't no air to slow it.

"The first thing is to choose yer ships. Yer all goin' into the Zyrothan Fleet, so you'll be workin' with Zygorns, Merkths, and Raegons, maybe a few PWS ones. You'll be officers, in charge of a subsystem or a ship. Yer gonna give the orders, and so yer gonna have to know what yer doin'.

"Different ships perform different roles. The Zygorns're known as 'Scouts', but that ain't what we use them for. In space, there ain't no stealth. If anything is coming out yer ship- body heat, reflected light- they'll see it from light-minutes. If yer drive is active, they'll see ya from the other side of the star system. Nah, Zygorns are there to support the bigger ships. Bigger ships can go faster, carry bigger weapons, and carry better sensors. So why'd they need Zygorns?

"Truth is they're a defence. They protect the others from missiles an' small ships cos they can put all their energy into it. A big ship's 'puter has to constantly find solutions and make evasions, point defence is automated and automation makes mistakes.

"Some races got more small ships, call 'em fighters. Load of krag- a waste of metal and guns cos the drive's tiny so you can't even catch up with yer target, people can't take the acceleratin', and life support uses up valuable space. Most sensible thing to do is take out the pilot and the life support, and then fill it with missiles. Yer not gonna swoop or bank in space cos you ain't got no air to push against- you go where yer thrusters push you.

"Merkths are cruisers. They're meant to be rounded- they got cannons, lasers, and a fair few howitzers. They can do bombardment and fight little ships, while bein' a hundredth the price of a Raegon. They can make good speed, with worthwhile FTL and reasonable scanners. Pirate base, scout screen, biohazard on the dry? Merkths can take care of it.

"But a cruiser can't take a dread. Dreads have the biggest guns and the best armour, and whoever's got the biggest guns can make the enemy do what they want. It's the threat- if you've got cruisers and they got dreads, you'll stay as far away from that klitching spinal weapon as you kragging can. When one side has dreads, they clear an area and let the little ships fight each other. The kinetic weapons of a dread are no good here, at ranges of ten thousand to a hundred thousand klicks, cos they go straight through little ships without dealing all possible damage and they ain't as fast as lasers. Here, dreads act as support platforms, laserin' away and herding the enemy towards the cruisers.

"Where both sides got dreads, it's very different. A dread can get killed by cruisers, but in the time needed they're likely to get killed, and a dread doesn't die one hit. You hit a Dread, you break it up- but that don't kill it. Bulkheads seal, the reserve command centres get used- now you're fightin' two half-dreads. A dread can get past this cos it can fire its spinal along the axis of the other dread, destroyin' the whole central section and knockin' out almost the entire ship. But dreads don't wanna get axially hit, so they're always turning away and jitterin', keepin' the broadside against the enemy.

"Broadside guns are littler, lasers and cannons. We Zyrothans don't use torps or missiles much, but they're sure as hell useful when the other guy's shields go down. Our government don't much care so long as we take their shields, seems.

"As I said, there ain't no cover in space. You stand out in the black, hundred of degrees above background temp. Can't hide behind anything, neither. You know asteroid fields? You'd be lucky to see a single rock as you go through one. They're usually thousands of kilometres apart, and your heat'll sure as heck show up. Rings are much better, but they ain't common and they're cold too. Most times, they're only a few metres thick, too.

"Also, space ain't the sea. Don't think 2D- ships don't just go the way as they point. They can fly backwards and sideways and up and down, and you have to look in 3D all the time. They're more likely not to be in front of you, cos that's where most of yer guns are pointin'.

"Gas giants make lots of radiation. In a big ship, you can hide in this, but little ones get frazzed. Also, you fall in and you ain't ever comin' out. Best place to hide is on a 'habited planet.

"Rammin' and boardin'? Load of krag. Rammin' at sub only works if yer ship's bigger than theirs cos of repulsors, and if you get close enough to board then they can shoot into yer drive. If yer gonna ram FTL, you gotta be one lucky arag to actually hit."

An Iridi's Introduction

"War in space? It's all about where you are.

"Heck, you could have the best-shielded ship in the Iridi fleet, but face off against Kerarans at close range and they'll blow you wide open. Space warfare is about being in the right place to fire when one volley kills.

"Imagine hide and seek with shock rifles. If you're within range, whoever fires first will win in an age of railguns and missiles. Well, you'll stay out of range, and that means far enough away that problems like sensor resolution and light delay stop them from hitting you- millions and millions of miles.

"But if you're out of range, how can you win? Answer is simple- missiles. A missile can accelerate faster than any ship can, and it can seek out its foe to pinpoint accuracy. Also, you have enough or shielded missiles and their point defence'll be overwhelmed. A foe can see a missile launching from more than a million miles, though.

"So don't have your ship firing the missiles. Iridi ships carry missile buses- boxes containing dozens of missiles that we eject and leave to float around in space, cold enough to be undetected. And once the enemy gets in range, all those weapons are crashing straight into them.

"Mass drivers are great when you know your enemy's exact trajectory. A driver shot can completely disable a dreadnought if it hits axially, and split it into several pieces if not. Generally, drivers fire a few shots in rapid succession because whipple shields are on almost every single ship and they almost completely stop railguns."

"Nukes, though we don't use them, are extremely effective against light ships. Even if the explosion doesn't get them, it's an instant radiation kill. Particle beams too- even if your armour stops them, the x-rays will sterilise your ship. So if shields are down and your enemy's got either, you've got to surrender or jump out.

"Jumping out is a risky thing. You need to recharge your FTL before you can jump and that usually takes five minutes or so, too much time if they're nuking you. Deciding where to jump is hard enough without the stress of being fired on.

"And what if you can't escape, but you're helpless? They can move to close range and vaporise you. The worst-case scenario is if they take out your heat transformer, because then you're vaporised by your own drive's and weapons' waste heat. This is the time to unfold radiators, the official sign of surrender.

"When you've got big fleets of heavily armoured and shielded ships, you can get them moving to close range in order to make a dent in the enemy line. Here, weapons like particle beams, mass drivers and torpedoes rule the warzone, at ranges of a few thousand klicks or less.

"Of course, the best way to win a space war is without any conflict at all."

An Aian's Introduction

See Also