Strangelove
Inactive Member
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=rift_generator
A while back some may have noticed I was looking at the "pirate problem". Specifically, 'Why is there nothing stopping a military from simply steamrolling over them?' So I played with a few ideas, then took a look at the Vietcong, arguably one of the most successful guerrilla fighters in modern history. The secret of their success was tunnel networks, which allowed them to resupply and reposition almost invisibly.
I realized that a form of jumpgate-style technology fitted on a carrier could offer a similar form of protection and mobility (if put on a mobile platform like a ship), and would logically the best way to protect guerrilla forces from simply being overwhelmed by the sheer firepower/numbers of military forces.
I chose to make a separate "rift" technology rather than using traditional jump gates because I was unsure if they were interdictable; an interdictable network would defeat the entire purpose of the system, which is to give guerrilla forces the mobility advantage. These rifts would be sustainable rather than single-shot, acting as an actual portal or gateway rather than a hyperspatial catapult like jumpgates.
Overview
The Pros:
- The system is immune to interdiction and jamming (through the physical gateways are still susceptible to destruction)
- Provides instantaneous travel
- Protects a ship from "unstable space" anomalies
- Inversely can create an aura of unstable space as a defensive measure against incoming attacks or PA (but only while the gateway is inactive).
The Cons:
- The system currently only works for objects below a certain size threshold (fighters, bombers, patrol craft, etc).
- The system requires a gateway to stabilize it, so no ship can travel through its own rift. Said ship would have to resort to traditional propulsion, making it vulnerable to interdiction, etc.
- The rift-stabilizing gateway is especially susceptible to damage; a rift is too structurally destabilizing to be buried deep within a ship, thus will always be kept along the outside of the hull and vulnerable.
- The destruction of a rift gateway will destroy the entire ship
- The unstable space aura is indiscriminate; it will damage friendly and enemy ships alike. The aura is therefore mutually exclusive with having any reinforcements on the battlefield.
As you can see, I've taken a careful effort to add a number of balancing factor to prevent the "omg-wtf" effect of potential abuse issues. Hopefully I've covered all my bases here. Oh, and I apologize if the article may seem incomplete -- I always custom-tailor the description of each component for the ship I use it on, so it may not seem like a well-written "stand alone" article.
A while back some may have noticed I was looking at the "pirate problem". Specifically, 'Why is there nothing stopping a military from simply steamrolling over them?' So I played with a few ideas, then took a look at the Vietcong, arguably one of the most successful guerrilla fighters in modern history. The secret of their success was tunnel networks, which allowed them to resupply and reposition almost invisibly.
I realized that a form of jumpgate-style technology fitted on a carrier could offer a similar form of protection and mobility (if put on a mobile platform like a ship), and would logically the best way to protect guerrilla forces from simply being overwhelmed by the sheer firepower/numbers of military forces.
I chose to make a separate "rift" technology rather than using traditional jump gates because I was unsure if they were interdictable; an interdictable network would defeat the entire purpose of the system, which is to give guerrilla forces the mobility advantage. These rifts would be sustainable rather than single-shot, acting as an actual portal or gateway rather than a hyperspatial catapult like jumpgates.
Overview
The Pros:
- The system is immune to interdiction and jamming (through the physical gateways are still susceptible to destruction)
- Provides instantaneous travel
- Protects a ship from "unstable space" anomalies
- Inversely can create an aura of unstable space as a defensive measure against incoming attacks or PA (but only while the gateway is inactive).
The Cons:
- The system currently only works for objects below a certain size threshold (fighters, bombers, patrol craft, etc).
- The system requires a gateway to stabilize it, so no ship can travel through its own rift. Said ship would have to resort to traditional propulsion, making it vulnerable to interdiction, etc.
- The rift-stabilizing gateway is especially susceptible to damage; a rift is too structurally destabilizing to be buried deep within a ship, thus will always be kept along the outside of the hull and vulnerable.
- The destruction of a rift gateway will destroy the entire ship
- The unstable space aura is indiscriminate; it will damage friendly and enemy ships alike. The aura is therefore mutually exclusive with having any reinforcements on the battlefield.
As you can see, I've taken a careful effort to add a number of balancing factor to prevent the "omg-wtf" effect of potential abuse issues. Hopefully I've covered all my bases here. Oh, and I apologize if the article may seem incomplete -- I always custom-tailor the description of each component for the ship I use it on, so it may not seem like a well-written "stand alone" article.