Weaponized Exhaust: Difference between revisions

*** (For those who want to know the details: the ship is dived headlong towards the enemy base, and then flipped end-for-end and full thrust applied to cancel out the velocity gained. The shields are overloaded and collapse, and then the target follows. Twice.)

* The ''[[BattleTech]]'' novel "Operation Excalibur" demonstrates this trope when the Gray Death Legion mercenary commander [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Grayson Death Carlyle]] creatively positions a hijacked Jumpship to point the exhaust end of its drive at one of the setting's extremely rare deep space recharging stations. It works as a shock and stalling tactic because such stations are considered inviolate, and it's an accepted rule of space to point that end of the ship away from anything you want to keep in one piece. The [[Oh Crap|moment of realization]] for all parties involved who didn't know about the plan beforehand is capped by an utterly priceless line:

** Also used in the climax of the novel "I Am Jade Falcon." The aging Falcon Mechwarrior Joanna is trapped in a fallen ''Summoner,'' having lost a leg in battle and with her weapons nonfunctional. {{spoiler|She activates her one remaining offensive option, the jump jets in her 'Mech's remaining leg, which causes the flare from the jets to impale [[Badass|Khan Natasha Kerensky]]'s [[Ace Custom|modified Dire Wolf]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|"Widowmaker"]] through the cockpit, killing her and making Joanna a Jade Falcon legend.}}

* Used as a particularly gruesome method of execution in Scarecrow by [[Matthew Reilly]], with the afterburner of a tied-down fighter jet.

 

* In the ''[[Firefly]]'' [[Pilot]], Wash uses Serenity's exhaust flame to ignite a planet's atmosphere as a way to disable/distract a Reaver ship after performing a "Crazy Ivan".

** Mal ''also'' intended to use the exhaust (both the flames and more importantly the physical pressure) against Burgess' troops in "Heart of Gold", but that plan never got off the ground.

* A ''[[Space: 1999]]'' episode, "Voyager's Return," concerned a probe whose drive system was lethal.

** Not just dreadnoughts; any ship's thrusters can melt armor "like wax under a blowtorch".

*** According to the (unofficial) Wikia;

** The Normandy generates Mass Effect fields that it "falls" into, in order to mask it's emissions when in stealth mode. Just ''imagine'' what multiple, sufficiently powerful directed Mass Effect fields could do under the right circumstances... [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Codex/Ships_and_Vehicles#Normandy_Shield_Upgrade:_Cyclonic_Barrier_Technology_.28CBT.29 oh, wait, that's suggested here], albeit in the form of shields rather than engines. Still!

** Finally played straight in the ''Arrival'' [[DLC]], when Shepard and Dr. Kenson escape from the Batarian prison, some guards arrive a bit late to stop them... and find themselves on the wrong end of their escape shuttle.