Heavy Graviton Minefield.

[Tobian]

Ok with talk of all of these Weapons platforms and whatnot I had a really very devistating evil (and cool) idea...

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Heavy Graviton mines:

These simple devices consist of a simple sensor array, a high burn gravity generator (which lasts only 30 seconds or so - a couple of rounds) and a small payload of antimatter.

These mines are usually laid out in a wide 3D latice around instalations, and fitted with a scanner sophisiticated enough to be read subspace transponder codes, so that identified Starships can pass by..

On detection of a graviton field (especially polarised - I.e. Starship, not random asteroid) The mine begins building up a sudden and strong gravity field.. this impells the mine towards the largest mass (read largest target) in the vicinity.. Howevery why this mine is so leathal is because this then triggers, in sequence, all the other mines in the area, all attracted together, and towards the central mass.

One of the other reasons this weapon is so very deadly is because the combined graviton field collapses any warp fields, making escape very hard at relativistic speads.. meaning the mines are dragged allong at impulse speeds, which are also made harder due to the cumulative effect of the gravition distortion.

The one flaw in the device is that once the web is set off, it will be completelly consumed as it destroys the ship, even if the ship escapes, as all the mines will draw to one another without a viable target.

System:

The mines take up an ammount of space equal to 5 structure per D6 of damage. The transponder codes ensure the minelaying ship doesn't destroy it's self!

The deployer shimply choses how large a field he wants based on it's number of available dice (which can be considerable if several ships are used to deploy the mines!)

On entering the field the enemy vessel activates and is struck by the closest mines - 1 dice of damage. For each round that the ship is in the minefield this number accrues by 1 so that in round 2 it would be struck by 2, round 3 by three and so on.

To escape the field a ship can use the open manouver, with each success gained it reduces the number of dice, to a minimum of 1 until the ship leaves the field (determined by the number of dice in the field /2) Or the mines have been used up.

Each dice of mines currently within the starships fieled also imposes a -2 penalty to all helm manouvers (making it potentially increasingly difficult to escape)

Once the ship has left the filed it then continues to devour it's self, though isolated pockets may be left behind, if the ship travelled for some distance, thinning out the field into isolated pockets.

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Now that IS Nasty.. any suggestions for a history on such a weapon would be cool, or any refinements of the damage system.

[JALU3]

A good defensive structure, in theory, but something that I think that Starfleet would be careful to deploy due to the gravitational field that could disturb the local space and possibly effect the planetoids in the area, thus possibly changing the system.

And if it is a really large net, and that gravity is cumulative what would happen if to many mines activate and centralize in a pin point.

And what of friendly, non-agressor, 'targets' who lack the transponder signal, or for that matter neutral vessels? To combat against that, you would have to openly transmit the correct transponder code, via communication from the station that is responsible for the mine net or from a transponder or other means, and thus decreasing the protective nature of the mine field.

[Tomcat]

And what of friendly, non-agressor, 'targets' who lack the transponder signal, or for that matter neutral vessels?

I would think that if an area is being mined, it is for the purpose of keeping non-informed vessels out - no matter what their allegiance. I am sure that the military would announce an area that has been mined, but with that annoncement goes the warning to enter at your own risk.

I mean look at modern day mining - ships are told to steer away... they are not given the information of mine type or depth (i.e. magnetic mine, or sonar capable).

[Tobian]

Well yes, that is a given - of course that strange alien probe transmitting a message which one one can decipher.. how inreaging.. Oh Crap it's saying 'beware you're in a minefield'

it all depends on the mind of someone who lays the field.. Some people might post dire warnings, so it's at your own risk! Some people might just be extremelly xenophobic, like the Paxens - maybe their last encounter with an external race was devastating, decimating their population, so they planted this field and walled themselves in.. They are aware that alien races are more advanced, so to give them an edge, they simply don't post any warnings.. death to every alien (how do they know there are nice one's !)

In such isolationist societies, then there isn't really an issue with programming the devices to recognise the only half dozen or so vessels and not install any comms equiptment inside them..

Actually howabout that for a nice story.. Such a massive orbit spanning net was installed by a xenophobic species, however there was an accident.. and the only few craft capable of passing by were destroyed.. Now it's centuries later, but no one can leave, without utter anihilation! even flying above a certain altitude could rain down doom on them.. and so they are trapped.. untill our PC's come allong !

[Poolshark]

*chuckles*....can anyone say "GalaxyQuest"....*Has visions of starships at high non relativistic speeds with HGMs trailing along behind them*



Cheers

Tas

[Tobian]

Yep, if you need a mental image of what's going on then that's it.. only worse.. the magnetic mines don't attract to each other.. once these guys are on, they do!