Edward Kann@StoryART said:
<snip>
The Martian technology creates a bubble or pocket universe around the S-Boat with only a very small worm hole connecting the artificial pocket universe to the main universe. S-Boats are known to extend a sensory device (basically the parascope) up out of this worm hole to monitor the surrounding area for passing ships. S-Boats are unable to move when concealed within this pocket dimension but they can lay in ambush along a common route used to establish an orbit or a route used by shipping for either gravity breaking or gravity slingshots through a well charted system.
I like this idea. Very nice.
Edward Kann@StoryART said:
When the Martian cloaking technology is engaged it pulls such a draw of energy from the Martian reactor that most other systems are drained to the point of shutting down or fluttering in and out of operation. S-Boats must rely on battery power to operate the most basic systems with reliability while "running silent". The greatest impact is a significant drop in the capabilities of the ship's life support system. Oxygen reserves dwindle and the vessel will slowly cool until it becomes uninhabitable outside of space suits. Ultimately the S-Boat must reappear / surface or the crew will expire.
So far I am thinking that a crew will expire from the freezing cold long before their oxygen completely goes.
Very nice parallel to actual U-boat operations while maintaining a very 'space' feel. Having crews worrying about the environmental conditions while they watch their oxygen supplies dwindle can make for a very intense setup to a gaming confrontation.
Edward Kann@StoryART said:
British destroyers are experimenting with equipment that detects the small worm holes generated by S-Boats in hiding. The British are developing a weapon that will collapse a small artificial worm hole trapping the S-Boat in the artificial pocket universe that it has created or possibly forcing the pocket universe to collapse leaving the S-Boat revealed and vulnerable for attack.
Hmmm... instead of 'depth' charges, it could work something similar, like 'continuity' charges. I can easily picture a destroyer deploying cylinders that detonate with a visual similar to the mines deployed in the last Star Wars movie against Kenobi, except without that annoying 'sound' part
that send dimensional 'vibrations' that could cause an S-boat to experience damage from 'parallax warbling' (or something similarly pulp-pseudo-science sounding), or become suddenly revealed with it's systems powered down as the wormhole collapses, leaving the crew scrambling to power up and get going before the Hunter-Destroyers close in on it. There could even be more strange side-effects like time distortion (the wormhole warbles, then hours later collapses, only to find the crew has had 20 years elapse during the vibration storm) or odd mutations, not to mention the unexpected side effect of the use of these continuity charges/mines attracting the attention or ire of something more primal from a closely intersecting dimension that has just had it's windows knocked out very loudly in the middle of the night...
Edward Kann@StoryART said:
Anyway. Just thinking out loud here. Not sure if this has been done before. There is a LOT of science fiction that i haven't read sadly. Impossible to keep up with it all. Trying to come up with something at least sudo original. (I've learned that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to writing.)
Ed
Eh, I'm not sure if it's been done, but I'm sure someone has done something similar with the amount of sci-fi that's out there. I've read some sci-fi myself, but not a huge amount, so I'm just tossing this stuff off the cuff.
Sounds like a very intruiging idea, this setting is due out in November, right?
