Standard Starship Scuffle: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Space battles are always [[This Is Reality|a lot more exciting on TV]] than they are in real life...''|'''Col. John Sheppard''', ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''}}

[[Space Fighter]]s have [[Old School Dogfighting]]. [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet|Capital ships]] get this trope instead, and you can think of it as "''[[History of Naval Warfare|''Very]]'' [[History of Naval Warfare|Old School Sea Fighting]]." Founded on the idea that [[Space Is an Ocean]], it harks back to the age of [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men]], when large warships, [[More Dakka|making up in fire-power]] [[Mighty Glacier|what they lacked in manoeuvrability]], pounded each other with cannon fire until one finally took enough damage to be forced to withdraw (or until a [[Attack Its Weak Point|lucky shot]] [[One-Hit Kill|hit a]] [[Stuff Blowing Up|powder magazine]]). The [[The Laws and Customs of War|honour and military tradition]] of those long-gone days will often be evoked as well.

It may be [[The Climax]] of a tense [[Mexican Standoff|standoff]], the conclusion of a [[Stern Chase]], or the outcome of a [[With Catlike Tread|cunning surprise attack]]. Two [[Cool Starship]]s from opposing [[Space Navy|Space Navies]] will park [[See the Whites of Their Eyes|within arm's reach of each other]], and proceed to fire [[Space Is an Ocean|broadsides]] of [[Beam Spam]] and [[Macross Missile Massacre|Macross Missiles]] at each other's [[Attack Its Weak Point|Weak Spots]]. The [[Point DefencelessDefenseless|Close In Weaksauce System]]—if it ''exists''—will valiantly try to intercept enemy attacks, and fail. [[Deflector Shields]] will [[Some Kind of Force Field|flash and crackle]] as they slowly drop [[Hit Points|percentage point by percentage point]]. [[The Engineer]] will rush to prevent [[Phlebotinum Overload]]s while avoiding the inevitable [[Stanley Steamer Spaceship|torrents of burning steam]], providing essential [[Techno Babble]] all the way. On [[The Bridge]], [[Bridge Bunnies|Bunnies]] will shout out [[Subsystem Damage|damage reports]] while [[Explosive Instrumentation]] claims the life of many a [[Red Shirt|Redshirt Ensign]]. Everyone flails about as each enemy hit brings on a [[Star TrekScreen Shake]]. [[The Captain]] will sit stoically at the centre of it all, providing important [[Hollywood Tactics|tactical guidance]], such as "[[Reverse Polarity|Reverse the Polarity]]!" or "[[Tim Taylor Technology|Give me more power]]!"

Once damage has had some time to accumulate, and the [[Crazy Enough to Work|daring plan]] has had a chance to either work impressively or fail spectacularly, one of the ships will usually find it prudent to invoke the [[Know When to Fold'Em|Thirty-Sixth Stratagem]] and attempt a [[Hyperspeed Escape]]. An [[Lawful Good|honourable opponent]] will let them go; a lowly [[Space Pirates|Space Pirate]] may get out the [[Tractor Beam|boarding hooks]] instead, and prepare a [[Boarding Party]]. If the quarry manages to slip away, there may be a [[Stern Chase]].

** In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' film, we see some beautiful examples, though aversions of [[Point DefencelessDefenseless]] and a general reduction in the amount of [[Techno Babble]] from previous Trek incarnations make it a less straight example than most.