A Tactical teleport question

[East Westchester]

Lets say a ship is trying to destroy another. that capital ship is almost 50x the size of the ship trying to destroy it. So the frigate has to kamikaze to destroy the capital ship (there is absolutely no other way whatwith all the defences). However, it has a teleporter and there is a front line.

The frigate basically shoots a bunch of the opposing starcruisers (hitting their engines in the hopes that they don't go after it) and they go after the frigate. the frigate manages to dodge everything. It manages to get to the capital ship. Because of the speed at which the starcruisers are following the frigate there is no way they will survive if they hit the capital ship (if there is even one left after the frigate gets done with it).

couldn't the frigate, at the last second, teleport to the other side of the capital ship and let the starcruisers hit the capital ship? That would practically cause the opposing front line to crumble, so the frigate would have little problem getting back...

 

[Wes]

If timed correctly, it would be possible for a ship to avoid enemy fire using a space fold. However, teleportation in the SARP is not the same thing and is really only found at the power armor level.

 

[East Westchester]

no no no, i wasnt thinking a spacefold around the capital ship to avoid enemy fire, i was thinking it would be done so that the frigate wouldn't have to kamikaze on the capital ship, but rather, it could just let the enemy cruisers smash into it. after all, it isn't like the cruisers can scan that enemy at that speed, not to mention they cant read anyone's minds...

wouldn't the space fold destroy it, or at least damage the capital ship very severely, though?

 

[Wes]

It would be stupid for the pursuing ships to line themselves up on a collision course with the big ship. The ships would probably use different courses so they could shoot at the frigate without risking friendly fire.

 

[Doshii Jun]

It is so unlikely that it might as well be a non-possibility.

There's canon that shows Star Army vessels are able to use very fast sublight travel, as well as microjumps, to evade fire and cross behind/over/past an enemy vessel.

However, there isn't a vessel in SARP that can't react to a possible collision course similar to what you're describing. They could, if need be, just mimic the microjump, pull away via sublight propulsion or perhaps even come to a dead stop, depending.

 

[MissingNo]

More than that, your scenario assumes way too many things for your idea to work for the frigate.

You assume that the starcruiser, if indeed it finds itself chasing a frigate, would not pay attention to where the frigate is going, pay attention where the cruiser itself is going, or have any knowledge of its position relative to the rest of the fleet, the capital ship in particular. In a fleet- or convoy-size combat situation, anything that a capital ship would be involved in, the capital or the flagship is usually the core of C3 (Command, Control, and Communications) for the fleet and so knows and directs all vessels under its watch. With that in mind, your hypothetical starcruiser would have to have the worst pilot on record to be lured into ramming its own capital ship. Secondary to that point is the assumption you make that there are no safeguards in place, such as the computer warning the pilot that they are on a potential collision course and that their speed wouldn't permit proper evasive action after a particular time frame.

The more obvious ones would be these, lined up in three consecutive sentences:

The frigate basically shoots a bunch of the opposing starcruisers (hitting their engines in the hopes that they don't go after it) and they go after the frigate. the frigate manages to dodge everything. It manages to get to the capital ship.

The frigate could miss their engines, but aggro them. It could hit more than one starcruiser and be subsequently flanked and destroyed. It could be ignored by the starcruisers. It could be hit by the one starcruiser, if it only pulls one. It could be destroyed before reaching the capital ship multiple ways. And the capital ship's aforementioned defences (which discouraged the frigate from attacking it earlier) could destroy the frigate before the smaller ship could lead the starcruiser to its presumed doom or even come close enough to become a threat.

There are other points, but those are the major ones. The only way a ship captain would try something like that is if the battle is already lost for the frigate's side, as a last-ditch effort to make a dent in the capital ship's fleet. If not, than it is not worth it to anyone. And if this were a television show or movie, such a dooming maneuver would work, too, due to the Rule of Cool and other TV tropes and conventions of storytelling (for another use of "teleportation"-style maneuvers in combat, check out the "Picard Maneuver", which does take into account distances).

In the end, space combat works a particular way in every story universe and while your idea may work in one, it won't work in others (SARP included). Of course, if this was a creature that an adventurer was getting to chase them toward a solid vertical surface upon arriving at which the chased would jump or climb and the chaser would ram head-on into the surface, it would be a very valid tactic. Always fun, and makes your pursuer feel stupid ^_^