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isaackuo · 4 years

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Space Carrier VARUHARA WIP notes

Here's a WIP for a retro C64 video game intro. It's a hard Science Fiction setting, with unabashed retro tropes.

SPACE CARRIER VARUHARA INTRO SEQUENCE

VALHALLA EXTERIOR

Sasaki, flying a small scout Dauber, approaches the Valhalla. Valhalla is slowly spinning for artificial gravity.

Valhalla fires ball ammo from a railgun turret at the Dauber.

The Dauber absorbs the bullets into a large foam shield. This slows down the Dauber for final approach.

The Dauber enters the stern trap.

In the cockpit, Sasaki is exhausted and yawning.

VALHALLA HANGAR

Gori-Lieutenant: Late again, and running on gas! Do you want another demotion?

Sasaki-Lieutenant: Yawn ... Come on, Gori-Lieutenant, no one cares that much. I demoted myself.

Gori: What?

Sasaki: Budget cuts - when did we last _fuel_ the Vallhunds for CAP?

Gori: well, the boiloff...

Sasaki: ch! I can _fly_ in a Dauber ... yawn ... zzz

Gori: So serious. There's nothing out there.

Sasaki: ... my brother is ... zzz

Gori shakes his head, and lets Sasaki nap in the cockpit while he begins mounting boosters.

DEEP SPACE, VALHALLA IN DISTANCE

In the background of stars, a weird gash rips apart. A fleet of alien starships spill from the rip.

VALHALLA BRIDGE

Radar officer: C-Captain! Something is there! Umm ... 190km away?!? Octant 5.

Chiba-Captain: 190km??? How? Stealth? Or ...

Radar officer: Battleships! ... maybe ... Missiles!

Chiba: Battlestations! Condition red! Helm! De-spin, and aim cats for missile intercept!

Helm officer: Yessir!

Chiba: Weapons! N-Beams, target missiles!

Weapons officers: Yessir!

Chiba: Handler! Scramble all Vallhunds! 5 percent fuel!

Aircraft handler: Yessir!

Radar officer: Captain! The budget ...

Chiba: Time! It's _time_ we lack. Missile ETA is 80 seconds. Do you know how long it takes to fully fuel a Vallhund?

Radar officer: I don't know.

Chiba: Our alpha strike drill record is ten minutes.

VALHALLA HANGAR

Pilots and deck officers are scrambling, hurrying into cockpits and fueling the fighters.

Sasaki is still asleep, but Gori is hooking bridle lines to her Dauber. The Dauber already has two quad racks of boosters loaded.

Gori: Oy! Open bridle brakes!

Gori bangs on the Dauber's cockpit.

Gori: Wake up, Sasaki! It's a scramble!

Gori pushes to float back. The airlock door slides shut. The airlock is enormous compared to the Dauber, reflecting its small size compared to the Vallhunds.

VALHALLA BRIDGE

Chiba, looking at screen: What type of ships are they?

Radar officer: Type ... unknown. Radar emissions ... absent. No emissions at all ... wait. UV? UV or something.

Chiba: UV lidar, perhaps?

Radar officer: Maybe ... I don't get it.

Chiba: Damage report!

Damage control officer: Damage reports absent!

Chiba: What? The enemy has no n-beams? No beams at all, maybe? Missiles only?

Chiba: Missile status?

Radar officer: No change. Impossible to assess n-beam effects.

Chiba: Helm! Upward thrust, 30 mps.

Helm officer: Yessir!

Radar officer: Missile maneuvers! Upward ... 30 mps.

Chiba: So ... guidance unaffected by n-beams? No way. But what about the warheads?

Chiba: Weapons! N-beams target enemy battleships!

Weapons officer: ... Where?

Chiba: Identify any promising points at will. Use your own judgment.

Weapons officer: Acknowledged!

VALHALLA CATAPULT TUNNEL

Airlock chamber in the floor rotates to reveal the Dauber. Sasaki is still asleep, with her helmet lolling.

The bridle lines pull the Dauber up into the center of the tunnel, positioned for launch.

In the left side of the tunnel, a large digital count-down display shows 10, 9, -- on 8, the Dauber is accelerated down the tunnel at incredible speed.

In the cockpit Sasaki's helmet slams rearward, instantly waking her; the cockpit is vibrating like crazy.

VALHALLA EXTERIOR

The Dauber silently exits the starboard cat tunnel; the disposed bridle lines glint briefly with reflected sunlight at the same moment that a naval bridle would have splashed into the ocean.

VALHALLA BRIDGE

Handler: Dauber away!

Chiba: So soon!

Chiba holds mic to face.

Chiba: Hailing Dauber. Chiba-Captain.

Sasaki: Dauber here. Sasaki-Lieutenant.

Chiba: 14 missiles at 120km, Sasaki-Lieutenant. You see them?

Sasaki: Yes, I see them on radar ... and visual.

Chiba: Missile guidance seems unaffected by N-beams. We are firing on them with N-beams. Intercept and observe.

Sasaki: Acknowledged!

Chiba: Weapons! N-beams, target missiles!

Weapons officer: Yessir!

VALHALLA HANGAR

Vallhunds are still being fueled and supplied. Two Vallhunds, still attached to fuel lines, are being moved to the airlocks at opposite sides of the hangar. Those two visibly have no weapons mounted on their rocket rails.

DEEP SPACE, VALHALLA IN DISTANCE

The Dauber thrusts back toward the Valhalla with booster packs, first discarding a pair of boosters from the left rack, and then discarding a pair of boosters from the right rack. As the second pair is discarded, the missiles catch up to the Dauber.

Sasaki: Hailing Valhalla. Sasaki-Lieutenant.

Chiba: Valhalla here. Chiba-Captain.

Sasaki: You're firing N-beams at the missiles?

Chiba: Yes.

Sasaki: Neutron signature ... absent. No, minimal. Consistent with N-beam scatter.

Chiba: No way! They're not nuclear weapons? Observe closer.

Sasaki: Acknowledged ... I'm approaching a missile ...

Sasaki: What kind of missile is this? Unknown type. No obvious sensors or thrusters. No emissions. Permission to engage?

Chiba: Engage.

Sasaki: Acknowledged.

Sasaki opens fire with recoilless machine cannon. The missile instantly jinks hard upon impact.

Sasaki: So fast!

Sasaki continues firing upon the jinking missile, but it's very hard to hit

Sasaki: It's dodging! So hard to hit! No ... not dodging. _Reacting_...

Sasaki takes a break from firing. After a couple seconds, the missile thrusts back on course.

Sasaki studies the sensor readings.

Sasaki: What! No way ... 500 KeV gamma signature? Positrons?

Chiba: Positrons? Anti-matter warhead? What is this enemy!

Sasaki: Bullets! Ball ammo! It can work!

Sasaki resumes firing upon missile; it reacts with chaotic thrusts opposite the impact points

Chiba: Weapons! Railguns, target missiles! Ball ammo!

Weapons officer: Yessir!

Chiba: Sasaki-Lieutenant, disengage! We're firing upon the missiles with ball ammo.

Sasaki: Don't mind me! They're too hard to hit from a distance.

Chiba: Understood.

VALHALLA EXTERIOR

Railgun turrets fire streaks of glowing hot ball ammo toward the missiles

DAUBER EXTERIOR

Glowing ball ammo streaks from the Valhalla rain all around.

Sasaki fires upon and chases a missile, finally shattering it to pieces at very short range with a good string of hits.

Sasaki looks up at the Valhalla, having grown larger in view.

Sasaki: Damnit!

Sasaki stops firing and pilots the Dauber to physically grab a missile.

Sasaki: No reaction?

Sasaki thrusts toward another missile and physically throws the missile she's holding at the other missile. Both missiles explode spectacularly on impact.

Sasaki: Got it!

Sasaki flies toward another missile. This time, her Dauber's shield - luckily placed between her and the enemy fleet - glows hot.

Sasaki: Eh? UV? UV laser?

As Sasaki approaches the missile, a spot on the missile glows from laser fire before an explosive reaction thrusting away.

Sasaki: No way! Guidance was unaffected because guidance is absent! The missiles are dumb rocks!

Sasaki chases the missile to try and grab it, but it is dodging too well. The Valhalla is getting larger in the background.

VALHALLA CATAPULT TUNNEL

The airlock chamber rotates to reveal a lightly armed Vallhund. Its large size fills out the chamber.

The bridle lines lift the Vallhund into the tunnel.

VALHALLA BRIDGE

Chiba: Handler! Status?

Handler: We won't make it, damnit!

Chiba pauses in thought.

Chiba (into mic): Sasaki-Lieutenant, disengage. Avoid the blast radius.

Sasaki: No, I can still ...

Chiba: This is my final order, Sasaki-Captain.

Sasaki is shocked.

Sasaki: A-acknowledged.

VALHALLA CATAPULT TUNNEL

Vallhund accelerates down the tunnel.

Before it reaches the end, massive explosions erupt into the tunnel.

DAUBER EXTERIOR

The Valhalla zooms past the Dauber, VARUHARA visible on the hull momentarily as it shrinks into the distance. It is crumbled by massive explosions, albeit smaller than nuclear explosions.

The Dauber turns to face the empty place where the Valhalla was. The imposing enemy fleet becomes visibly apparent.

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BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY NOTES

The heavy carrier Valhalla is a solar powered spacecraft with hydrolox fuel and four main engines. It normally operates with spin gravity. In spin mode, only one engine is required for full maneuvering capability - it works like a spinning helicopter rotor with cyclic and collective throttling for maneuvering. When de-spun, it is desirable to have either the upper pair or the lower pair of engines functional.

Valhalla's main armament is six neutron beam turrets. Ion pulses drive neutrons via magnetized plasma wakefield acceleration. These neutron beams can fry guidance electronics and disrupt nuclear warheads, making them potent missile defenses. However, it is difficult to assess how much damage has been done to the target.

In the previous interplanetary war, the proliferation of N-beam defenses outmoded long range missiles. Large fighters armed with short range rockets proved more effective. Their large fuel tanks provided adequate neutron shielding to get past defenses. To improve range and endurance, carriers began incorporating catapults to launch fighters and railguns to brake returning fighters. Valhalla exemplifies late war carrier design.

Valhalla's space wing is dominated by Vallhund fighters - a post-war design. They use the same hydrolox fuel as Valhalla itself, maximizing range and delta-v thanks to high specific impulse. However, Vallhunds were designed for high intensity conflict, lacking insulation to mitigate hydrogen boiloff. Valhalla is currently operating far from supply lines, so the Vallhunds are rarely fueled up for operations. Still, this is not considered a serious problem, because any enemy will be detected from far away.

Another fighter type is the small Dauber scout. It's a pre-war design, dominated by its tail radar. It uses magnesium-aluminum/lox hybrid rocket boosters to maximize endurance, because they don't suffer from boiloff. For extended delta-v, multiple disposable booster packs are used. The Dauber's flexible limbed design has given it the ability to keep up with the times, despite a lack of N-beam protection.

Valhalla's catapults use a bridle line system. The bridle lines suspend the fighter in the tunnel. The shuttles are accelerated by linear motor electromagnets paired in series, guaranteeing that their movement down the tunnel is synchronized. This bridle system is more suitable than a less retro nose gear system, because the desired speed exceed speeds suitable for wheeled landing gear.

- - - - - 8< - - - - -

ADDITIONAL TACTICS NOTES

Captain Chiba's most obvious tactical error was fruitlessly trying to launch Vallhund fighters rather than the small complement of Dauber scouts. However, he's a veteran of an interplanetary war in which "There's No Stealth in Space". The possibility of an encounter without hours of advance notice was inconceivable. Under such unthinkable time constraints, it's natural to stick to practices that one has trained for. Even if Captain Chiba tried to push his crew into novel tactics, it would be unlikely to work as well as doing what they've trained for.

As it was, there was never a possibility of launching all of the Dauber scouts very quickly. They're considered auxiliary support for the strike fighters, so only one was ever launched at a time. As such, only one deck hand was comfortable with prepping a Dauber unsupervised.

Captain Chiba references "alpha strike" drill times, even though an alpha strike consists of fully loading and launching all Vallhund fighters. Why not reference a fast interceptor scramble drill? Simply put, they never drilled for such a thing. Late war carrier tactics revolved around opposing alpha strikes directly pummeling their way through each other. Holding back any of the space wing in reserve would only be a recipe for losing the battle. Concentrating a full alpha strike was the way to both maximize chances of victory and minimize fighter losses.

Conversely, the alien tactics seem puzzling. They only launch about a dozen missiles, and no fighters. Partly, this is because they are testing the capabilities of an unfamiliar enemy with unfamiliar technology. Also, it is because of an internal bet. The mysterious advisor to this invasion mission, Quartz Brooder, has bet the task force's commander that a mere 14 missiles would be sufficient to win the battle. The commander is incredulous, but intrigued enough to see how it goes. She knows full well that her fleet has overwhelming numerical superiority regardless.

Basically, Valhalla was doomed because the enemy had a greatly superior force and greatly superior information. If we include the knowledge of Quartz Brooder, the enemy had a very good idea of the weaknesses of the enemy and how to exploit them. In contrast, the human force had no idea such an enemy was even possible.

#game development #indie game #commodore 64 #space carrier valhalla #myart

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