Hyperspeed Ambush: Difference between revisions

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'' film, we get to see {{spoiler|the ''Enterprise''}} pull one of these in the film's climax, {{spoiler|using [[Beam Spam]] to counter the Romulans' [[Macross Missile Massacre]] in a [[Gunship Rescue]] moment.}}

** And inverted earlier in the movie, {{spoiler|where the fleet is ambushed by the ''Narada'' and destroyed. The ''Enterprise'' only survives because they were [[Late to Thethe Party]].}}

{{quote| '''Admiral Ackbar:''' [[Memetic Mutation|It's a trap!]]}}

* A strategy that comes up from time to time in ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'', though mostly only when the characters are near a Wormhole Terminus. Since Wormhole Terminii located near populated systems tend to be extensively surveyed and plotted, any ambush through them requires overwhelming force, as one can usually find fleets of warships, arrays of massive space fortresses, and remotely-launched missile pods waiting for any unwelcome visitors in hopes of making their visit a short and [[Stuff Blowing Up|spectacular]] one.<br />One notable example is the Royal Manticoran Navy's successful assault on the Havenite forces at Trevor's Star. They first launched a conventional attack with a fleet dropping in from hyperspace, and once that battle had enough time to develop fully, another fleet jumped in directly from the Manticoran system via the wormhole that connected the two star systems to strike the Havenite forces from behind.<br />The main problem is that every transit destabilizes the Wormholes for a time, based on the transferred mass. With one ship, there is a very short cycle until the next one comes through. Sending the maximum mass in one transit (for a Manticorian Terminii about thirty Superdreadnoughts) will make further use impossible for ''hours''. Which means no retreat if something goes wrong and makes tactics as used above very risky. And sending your ships in one after another would just give the other side a chance for some target practice.

* [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s [[Childe Cycle]], Donal Graeme stages a daring raid against an enemy planet in Dorsai!. He uses multiple swift hyperspace jumps to simulate a huge armada attacking his enemy, even though it drives him and his crew to the edge of collapse, with each jump leaving them more and more in pain and disorientation.

* In David Drake's ''[[RCN (Literature)|RCNSeries]]'' series Daniel Leary, frequently uses FTL in unexpected ways to take enemies by surprise.

* While short-range hyperjumps are possible in Elizabeth Moon's ''[[VattasVatta's War]]'' universe, it is a technique generally limited only to some of the better equipped space navies; most civilian and commercial-grade equipment just isn't designed for that sort of thing. That said, limitations in sensors and communication (limited to light-speed within a star-system, given that the FTL communications arrays are space stations unto themselves) preclude this strategy from being used. {{spoiler|Until someone develops a FTL communications rig that can easily fit aboard a starship.}}

* A common strategy on ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'', thanks to many larger ships being capable of producing their own jump points into and out of [[Subspace or Hyperspace|Hyperspace]]. Since ships in hyperspace can not detect anything in real space, and vice versa, this requires the attacker knowing where and when the target will be in a particular location ahead of time. Most battles of this sort tend to be [[Curb Stomp Battle|very short]]. [[Inverted]] about half the time, with ships lying in wait just outside a [[Cool Gate|jump gate]] where they are not expected, allowing them to rip an incoming ship apart as soon as it exits the gate.

** The Narn in particular are prone to being victims of this, either at the hands of the Centauri or the Shadows, partially because they are the first major race <ref> other than the Vorlons and the Minbari, both of whom want to prevent the Shadows from ''knowing'' that they know they are returning</ref> to spend any major effort investigating the Shadows, and partially because they get baited into a war with the Centauri, who are significantly more advanced technologically.

** The Minbari are masters of this tactic as well. Their expansive experience in hyperspace travel (they have been traveling amongst the stars for over a thousand years) means they can plot a jump from hyperspace into a ''much'' more precise area than the other races can. On at least one occasion, they capitalize on this to open a jump point in the middle of an [[We Will Use Wiki Words in Thethe Future|EarthForce]] fleet of ships, ripping half of them apart before the Minbari ship even exited hyperspace.

* A common tactic of the titular character of [[Tracker (TV)|Tracker]]

* In ''[[Star Control]] II'', the [[Fun Withwith Acronyms|VUX]] ships are [[Mighty Glacier|MightyGlaciers]]. They can't move fast but have a powerful laser that can take care of most ships in a few seconds. They compensate for the speed disadvantage by slowing down enemy ships with gravity mines and warping into battle right on top of the enemy.

* ''[[Homeworld (Video Game)|Homeworld]]'', in all its incarnations, makes this a plot point and a game mechanic at once. In the story, hyperspace cores and drives are used as a blitzkrieg weapon on more than one occasion. The tables have been turned against hyperspacing fleets just as much, provided a ship has a gravity well generator installed to interfere with the hyperspacing equipment. The same ideas stretch onto actual gameplay, although in much smaller scales than those found in the plot, for balance reasons.

* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', when [[Private Military Contractors|the Toughs']] teraport drive was still the only one in the galaxy, they would use this strategy to great effect against enemies who thought they'd be forced to use a [[Cool Gate|wormgate]] instead. Various methods of preventing Teraport usage were developed later.

* ''[[UnwindersUnwinder's Tall Comics]]'': In an in-universe novel by Gary P. Rastov, Krohn attempts to pull off a hyperspace ambush--butambush—but the solar system he's attacking has a fifty-second warning of his fleet's arrival. More than enough time for their Lightning Foundries to produce another fleet capable of reducing Krohn's to its component atoms.

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