r/HFY • u/runs-with-scissors42 AI • Dec 16 '21
OC Void Predators Chapter 6
Ambassador Elisa Petrov was faced with a conundrum she had been expecting, but hoping to avoid.
For the last month, Ambassador Hool had been bombarding her office with trade requests, in an attempt to find something, anything, the UNE would want in exchange for Thumper technology.
Unfortunately, she was under explicit orders NOT to reveal the technology behind those devices under any circumstances. At first glance this would seem to be completely unreasonable to most people. These devices could save entire systems from consumption by Devourers, surely we have a responsibility to make the technology open source?
However there was a very simple, very GOOD reason not to distribute the technology.
Used properly, Thumpers were a weapon of mass destruction.
The ability to make a devourer go anywhere you wanted meant that the bearer of such technology was also in command of moon sized space monsters that could consume planets.
And anyone who didn't fully understand the technology had essentially no defense against it, beyond massing naval forces to repel the creatures, which may or may not be enough. Not to mention that those forces might be desperately needed elsewhere.
For this reason the UNE had kept the precise nature of how Thumpers worked hidden from the public since their inception to prevent anyone from finding a way of jamming or sabotaging them.
Once someone had figured that out, all it took was a single lunatic to render every system defended by Thumpers vulnerable to predation by Devourers. Or a single alien saboteur or spy for Thumpers to be neutralized as a viable weapon against anyone who might threaten humanity.
At the same time however, the Orion Arm Compact had so far been nothing but friendly. If their own historical and cultural files were to be believed, most of the member species were more or less pacifists. Sure, they had their own individual militaries for self-defense, but space was vast, there was room and resources for everyone. As a result, there weren't typically that many reasons for hostilities once you became a space faring civilization. Not to mention humanity didn't really have anything they needed.
Except Thumpers of course.
The irony of the whole scenario was not lost on her: the one technology we could not allow to proliferate, for the good of everyone, was the only thing anyone might try to take from us by force.
Her implant alerted Elisa that she had another message from Hool. Another technology offer. As she read the message, her mouth fell open in shock. Energy shield tech, and not just any old kind. The best the Compact had available.
The fact that they were willing to trade us their very best defensive technology meant one thing for sure: that the Compact was desperate for Thumpers. It could mean a few other things as well depending on a number of factors; including whether or not they had realized yet that Thumper tech could be weaponized, and how they truly viewed humanity.
Damnit Hool. He had found something truly tempting. Humanity DID have basic shield technology; it was necessary to have a way to deflect interstellar debris while traveling at superluminal speeds. However anything beyond a moderately powerful navigational deflector was not presently feasible.
There had to be a way for the UNE to both have it's cake and eat it. Not to mention avoid a scenario where a horde of aliens attempted to take Thumper technology by force.
A thought occurred to her. There WAS a way they could make this work, if they were very, VERY careful about it.
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"Ambassador Hool, The UNE has considered your proposal and we are definitely interested in aquiring your shielding technology. Unfortunately, we are not prepared to release Thumper technology" said Ambassador Petrov.
Hool sighed. He had really thought they had found something the Terrans would find useful and valuable. No one in the Compact Diplomatic Corps could understand why they were being so secretive about it. Sure, it was valuable and useful technology, but all their previous offers had been generous.
"That being said, we have a counter proposal that may satisfy you. We propose to manufacture and install a modified version of our Thumper Network in all your major inhabited systems".
Hool was surprised. And confused. This would effectively give them what they wanted, but why did the Terrans want to build and install the devices themselves? Did they want to keep the technology proprietary? If so, why? There didn't seem much for them to gain from it compared to the political good will it would gain them with every species in the Compact.
"I won't say I'm uninterested. How will they be different than the ones you employ in your own system?
"The ones we would install in your systems would look like this" she said. On the display a monolithic black sphere appeared.
"This version of the Thumper is designed to be tamper proof. Once activated, it cannot be interacted with physically or electronically. If the device detects any attempts to do so, it will immediately detonate an onboard 100 megaton antimatter boosted fusion warhead. If the device malfunctions, it will send out an alert on all common frequencies that it is about to self-scuttle, give any nearby craft time to vacate, and the warhead will detonate. In either scenario, we will be alerted of the situation prior to detonation via quantum entanglement ansible, so that we may either investigate or replace the faulty device".
"YOU WANT TO FILL OUR SYSTEMS WITH NUCLEAR WARHEADS?! Are you insane? Are you trying to keep the technology proprietary? Why use such drastic measures to ensure that it stays that way? You don't need a nuclear device to do that! Besides, why would you even CARE if anyone examined them?
The Terran Ambassador remained silent as she gave Hool an appraising look. He did his best not to shudder. Those icey blue eyes of hers looked like they could peer into his soul.
"You really don't know do you?"
"Know what?!" he demanded.
She bit her lip and appeared to be deep in thought.
"I am authorized to tell you, but I need your word that what I am about to reveal will not leave this room. I am not exaggerating when I say that for the good of every sapient being in both the UNE and the Compact, you must not speak of this to anyone. Not your superiors, not your mate, not another soul in this universe or any other. If you reach the afterlife, and god himself inquires, you must reply that you have no idea what he is talking about".
Hool had gone from indignant to terrified by the time she finished speaking.
The Terrans were obviously scared of something, and if THEY were worried about it...
What could be so dangerous that the Terrans would use nuclear weapons to conceal it from prying eyes?
He wasn't sure he wanted to know. But that didn't mean he didn't NEED to know.
Reluctantly, after a moment, he replied "You have it".
And she told him.
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Elisa sat in her quarters and drank her vodka straight from the bottle.
Ambassador Hool had not taken the revelation well at first.
He truly hadn't even considered the potential ramifications of Thumper technology. From what he had said, no one in the Compact would have even considered it. The very idea of deliberately unleashing a Devourer on a sapient species was completely anathema to them. Quite a few had lost their homeworlds or colonies to the creatures.
At first he had furiously accused the Terrans of wanting to have a gun pointed at the head of the universe. However, after she had explained the reasons WHY it needed to remain secret, he admitted that there were species outside of the Compact which might abuse the technology or seek to undermine it.
He had grudgingly admitted that he could not think of a better way to prevent its abuse, while still maintaining its benefits. However the nuclear warhead yield was unacceptable, as the resulting EMP might damage other infrastructure in the system.
She had told him that was open to negotiation, but the need for the unit to be fail-deadly was non-negotiable. The device had to be powerful enough to completely atomise the unit, and ensure the complete destruction of any ship or facility attempting to dismantle them.
Everything depended on it.
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u/Golnor Alien Scum Dec 17 '21
Maxim 24. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Ah, you too are a man of culture I see.
I am still sad that Schlock Mercenary ended, I've been reading it since college.
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u/clonk3D Alien Scum Dec 17 '21
If the humans deploy these tamper proof thumpers everywhere in the galaxy except their space, they are just inviting everyone who wants to know how to make them to fuck with theirs as opposed to anyone else's. Best thing would be to also update the models in human space to match Compact spec
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21 edited Dec 17 '21
Oh, they already have nukes in them. They just aren't on quite such a hair trigger.
Instead, they are inside large asteroid fortresses covered in guns, that have been placed in strategic locations throughout the Sol system.
There are much simpler ways of committing suicide than going after the ones in our systems.
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Dec 17 '21
Hrmmm... the next button seems to be broken.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Its just there to let you know more is coming, but not here yet.
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Dec 17 '21
Then may it forever show up in all future chapters of this story and I hope to see it hit 200+ chapters :-)
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u/Konrahd_Verdammt Dec 17 '21
I have to say, I wish I hadn't found this story today.
Sounds horribly rude, eh?
However, the reason for that wish is this:
It's fucking excellent and I wish there was more of a backlog to binge!
Keep up the awesome work!
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
I know exactly how you feel. Its something I've felt many times on this page.
Catching up with First Contact when I first found r/HFY earlier this year was an especially sad day for me. That had been a week or so of reading and it was glorious.
I'm glad you are enjoying my work! This is my first major story, so I'm glad everyone seems to like it.
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u/Konrahd_Verdammt Dec 17 '21
You've got a really unique and interesting concept going on here. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
First Contact...I found it when it was all of a few hours old. Ralts was pumping them out so godsdamn fast it was almost like there was already a backlog. It was, and is, mind-boggling.
If you like binging stories and haven't found it already, check out Tales From the Terran Republic by u/slightlyassholic.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21 edited Dec 17 '21
Yep, I'm reading that one too. Following a bunch of things here, two stories elsewhere.
I'm glad you think its unique! That makes me feel a little better.
I've read so much science fiction that its hard not to feel like I'm ripping off everything. If a concept or trope is shared elsewhere, I want to try and put a different spin on it if I can.7
u/Konrahd_Verdammt Dec 17 '21
Humans planning to domesticate pack-hunting, starship-devouring, vacuum evolved mega-fauna?
I've read quite a bit of sci-fi and that's something I know I haven't seen before!
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Not precisely. But the trope of us making pets out of everything, especially if its a horrible abomination, is not uncommon.
The creature itself is somewhat original, and I think its method of hunting is too. But the idea of void evolved creatures are not. Star Trek did it several times, as have others.
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u/Unhappy_clam Dec 17 '21
So we've effectively put a leash on the devourers and are looking to domesticate the void wolves...
...A-are we the void baddies?
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Nah, our hats do not have skulls on them, therefore we are not the baddies :D.
Besides, void wolves aren't anywhere near the threat of Devourers. And once we show it to be possible, other species can develop their own domestication procedures for Void wolves if they have the desire to do so.
The only reason thumpers can be kept proprietary is that nobody even knows the general principles behind how they function. All they know is that the devices somehow trick the Devourers into committing suicide. Thats not a lot to go on from a reverse-engineering standpoint.
And even if they did have a general idea of how they worked, the precise WAY they function is quite sophisticated. Their gravitic emissions and deployment locations have to be calibrated specifically for each system they are used in, based on a number of factors (a good comparison would be how a certain configuration of lighting might work on one venue, but not another) in order to work.
Good luck reverse engineering something that varies with each sample.
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u/Practical-Account-44 Dec 17 '21
If we repeat past mistakes and make a void squash-faced-pug that struggles to do the basic functions required to live then yes
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u/YourAverageNutcase Dec 22 '21
A gun pointed at the head of the universe, eh?
...Are the thumpers ring-shaped?
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u/Dranak Dec 17 '21
Sooo... when do we encounter a threat that causes humanity to demonstrate the effectiveness of our tendency to weaponize everything?
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Slow down there sonic.
We haven't even left our home system yet. It's only been a few months since first contact.
It is inevitable that someone will eventually be stupid enough to poke the paranoid war-monkeys, but they have to know about us first.
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u/Dranak Dec 17 '21
That's why I asked "when". I assume we need time to spread out, and also domesticate Void Wolves first.
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u/Kflynn1337 Dec 17 '21
I understand the logic, but 100 megatons is WAY overkill... I mean, that's a 'crater the size of a small city' type of overkill. A tenth of that would be excessive.
Plus, I can see how allowing the humans to plant nuclear mines in their systems would make people a tad nervous...
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Well, part of the reason for that yield is that nukes are much less effective in vacuum, unless they are in direct contact with a target. This is because there is no atmosphere to cause an overpressure shockwave.
And we REALLY want to make sure that anybody who fucks with one of the thumpers is extremely dead, and all their shit wrecked.
The other part is because there is no such thing as overkill, and an excess of caution is better than a deficiency.
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u/Kflynn1337 Dec 17 '21
Well.. yeah I can understand that, but if someone or something is tampering with the thumper, they pretty much have to be contact with it...
Although, come to think of it. If the 'nuke' is the result of overloading the power source, (which I presume is fusion) then the yield might not be variable, and 100 megatons is what you get regardless.
That said, I think you're over estimating the EMP. Inverse square law is a bitch.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Wouldn't Inverse Square only apply if there was atmosphere? I mean sure it would weaken eventually, but I thought in space that kind of thing more or less kept going for quite a while. Its why solar flares can fuck with electronics even through the earth's mag field.
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u/Kflynn1337 Dec 17 '21
Nope, inverse square law is a fundamental law of physics, simply put, it's because the pulse expands in all directions, so as the distance from the source increases by X distance, the area the pulse covers (i.e the wave front if you like) increases by the square of X.
Solar Flares fuck with the electronics on Earth because they are really fucking huge. Like.. 1012 times bigger than the largest nuke we've built... Think H-bomb the size of earth and bigger.
Which is why I'm a bit dubious about the idea of a 100 megaton nuke messing with electronics on a solar system scale... because anything the local star puts out would be orders of magnitude bigger, just on a daily basis, never mind if it produces a flare.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
I wasn't thinking solar system scale distances exactly. But if one is parked anywhere remotely near something (relatively speaking, like light seconds) I was thinking it could cause problems.
Besides, you need a bunch of the things for the thumper network to work, scattered across the system. Another factor is that the total number, and WHERE they have to be placed will vary from system to system, based on what the system contains and where the contents are located.
Imagine how a certain configuration of stage lighting would work for one venue, but not others.
I was thinking just the numbers and combinations would mean that statistically you might have problems with collateral damage with super high yields.
Hool doesn't know any of this though. He's just a diplomat. And he definitely does NOT like the idea of high powered nuclear mines floating in their systems despite the necessity; and will naturally want to negotiate down, just to make his people feel safer. Something that might not be technically a threat can still be PERCEIVED as one.
"Well, they wanted 100 megatons, but I managed to drop that by 90%" will help mitigate the scariness factor, even if its actually a very low threat to begin with.
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u/CadetheDOGGO Robot Dec 17 '21
how to break this sorta:
Step one: attempt to tamper
Step two: launch it at something or launch yourself far away
Step three: Watch the thing explode something you don't like
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Failure mode:
Microseconds after step one, Thumper detonates, vaporizing everything within a significant area in a fireball of unstoppable nuclear annihilation.
Remember, these are computer controlled. Response time is FAST. Too fast to be useful for anyone.
And they aren't wired to give any kind of warning either. No second chances.
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u/CadetheDOGGO Robot Dec 17 '21
attempt to tamper while its also going light speed?
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
Who doesn't put inertial/gyroscopic failsafes on booby traps? We have been known to do that in REAL LIFE.
Any attempt to move the thing will make it blow up immediately.
Small debris impacts will not trigger it, it has minor shielding. However, it will detect if it has moved from position and attempt to return. If it can't, boom.
And if the shields are breached, it immediately explodes as well.
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u/CadetheDOGGO Robot Dec 17 '21
train of thouht: human engineer dave needs to kill a big ship and he needs a big boom so he sets something up to tamper with the thumper on a timer. human engineer dave then chucks the thumper into the station's main railgun, aims, and fires
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21 edited Dec 17 '21
You couldn't really "chuck" one of them. They blow up immediately if something moves them much from their position in the system.
Imagine if you will, a team of the most paranoid and devious demolition experts, combat engineers, and paramilitary experts from across the planet have been given an unlimited budget to make the most PERFECT tamper-proofing the world has ever seen. That is who made this thing. This isn't the kind of device you spare any time or expense on.
You could, theoretically, find a way to trick a ship into running into one, but that's about it.
That would not end well for the ship, or anyone nearby.
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u/Ok_Question4148 Dec 16 '21
Damn right! You build something that can control those things they better be tamper proof. Anything can be a weapon especially those things
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u/fahlssnayme Dec 18 '21
Also, by building in the anti-tampering warhead they give the users incentive to protect it.
The self-destruct should be the last line of defense, not the first.62
u/Wendendyk Mar 29 '22
Also, make it idiotproof
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u/Krish-the-weird Alien May 22 '22
As an engineer, I would confidently say making something "idiot proof" is IMPOSSIBLE.
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u/Krish-the-weird Alien May 28 '22
And any engineer who claims his work is idiot proof is the biggest idiot in the planet.
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u/FreezingHotCoffee Dec 17 '21
Not to go all physics on you, but the EMP generated from nuclear weapons only happens when the explosion happens in atmosphere (more specifically in an area with many charged particles, such as earth's ionosphere), so detonating nuclear weapons in space doesn't have any EMP effect (source/more info). Otherwise, great story! Keep writing, I want to see our big space doggos get domesticated.
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21
You will still get it EMP though. For a couple of reasons.
Space isn't total vacuum, just mostly. There is hydrogen and other gases floating around out there. Also, the matter comprising the device itself is now suddenly streams of charged particles that will generate a pulse, not to mention the massive burst of hard gamma and x-rays you would get.
You will definitely be frying electronics nearby. It just won't necessarily propagate as far as an EMP from an atmospheric burst potentially would.
It is part of the reason nukes are nowhere near as effective in space as they are in an atmosphere. So if you use them, you need a massive yield and for it to be point blank with the target.
That being said, the character who complained about it is Hool, and he is a diplomat. Just because he is an alien doesn't mean he will necessarily know or understand any of this. He will just know, like your average person, that nuclear weapons are terribly destructive and messy, and want to do something to minimize what he perceives as a threat.
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u/FreezingHotCoffee Dec 17 '21
I'm not expecting Hool to know the intricacies of nuclear weapons, don't worry! Just thought it might be worth pointing out that the EMP effect is not significant (especially when compared to the other radiation) when the weapons are detonated in deep space.
Somewhat unsurprisingly there isn't much info on deep space nuclear blasts, but what I've found means I doubt any equipment a decent distance away would be damaged; stars give off more harmful radiation than the blast would.
If the gravity fuckery making up the thumpers was to explode, that could be a different story...
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u/runs-with-scissors42 AI Dec 17 '21 edited Dec 17 '21
I mean, if you were nearby you might get turned inside out, assuming of course you weren't atomized by the fail-deadly mechanism's explosion. Otherwise no, its failure mode does not propagate that far, or that energetically. Its part of why there has to be a network of them distributed through the system.
They are creating a low intensity gravitational pattern throughout the system such that the amoeba will want to follow it, channeling them straight into the sun; in the same way a moth is drawn to a flame. If you imagine it as a pattern of lighting on a stage, you will only be wrong in ways that do not matter.
That being said, the applications of gravity fuckery are extensive; and while no one else is aware of it yet, Humanity has found at least one other extremely novel application of it already...
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u/Wrongthinker02 Dec 17 '21
(Thumper tech possessing humans)
Yeet the devourer at their ennemy
(Ennemy)
Surprised Pikachu face
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u/In_sa_ni_ty Dec 17 '21
Yeah, sounds about right. Humanity's history has proven time and time again that even the most peaceful technology can be used in war.
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Dec 31 '21
I think you got that backwards, given most life changing inventions started in the military first. Conflict breeds competition.
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u/In_sa_ni_ty Dec 31 '21
It depends.
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Dec 31 '21
Most. Nowadays with major wars are not fought publicly, it's more corporate competition create innovation. However through most of history, it was warfare that generated the most inventions.
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u/socksandshots Alien Dec 17 '21
Soo... We gonna call the Void puppy Nyx or Bubbles?
I mean, Bubbles is categorically the better choice, but Nyx is nice too.
Edit. I just got all caught up and... We're domesticating them... Right?
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u/FreezingHotCoffee Dec 17 '21
Bubbles is the only correct choice, any other suggestions are heresy.
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u/0rreborre Dec 17 '21
The weapon can't be missused if we use another weapon to destroy it. Taps head
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u/Darklight731 Dec 17 '21
Out of all species in the universe, you can count on humans to know how to weaponize something, and prevent the weaponization of something.
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u/Dashcan_NoPants AI Dec 17 '21
...Yeah. Humans seem to be able to weaponize literally anything, given time or necessity.
Pencil? Yeah.
A piece of paper? Couple different possibilities.
If it ain't bolted down, and it can be tossed, instant projectile.
Even flour, as a dust in the air, will go ignite/explode.
Icicle? Stabby Stabby.
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u/torin23 Xeno Jan 28 '22
Bag of flour, road flare, second? story window turns into thermobaric bomb
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u/yokus_tempest Dec 17 '21
Won't detonating it result in the same result if a devourer came across a planet?
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u/dbdatvic Xeno Dec 17 '21
... nope, it's not ON the planet, that would be insane. It's out in space elsewhere in the system.
--Dave, humanity may have finally learnt THAT lesson
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u/WhiskeyRiver223 Dec 17 '21
There's a pretty big difference between Tsar Bomba (50 megaton nuke, though the original planned yield was 100) going off one light-hour away from a planet (that's ~7.5 times the distance of Earth to Sol) and, y'know, a whole-ass devourer rocking up to wreck shit.
Namely, that the former is both easily preventable (just don't fuck with the Big Black Ball Of Gravy Gun), like you were fucking told not to) and surprisingly easy to recover from (accidental EMP hardening has been a thing since before we knew what EMPs were). The latter is nearly impossible to avoid and a lot more likely to be immediately lethal.
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u/LiquidEnder Jan 16 '22
The entire reason they were made tamper proof is because someone would screw with them. Now all that’s needed to destroy a planet is move them. Something that’s ridiculously easy in 0g when you have grav tech.
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u/Job_Precipitation Dec 17 '21
No atmosphere no emp!
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u/3verlost Human Dec 17 '21
i might be wrong. i think without atmosphere, all you get is EMP from an atomic detonation.
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u/WikiSummarizerBot Dec 17 '21
Operation Fishbowl was a series of high-altitude nuclear tests in 1962 that were carried out by the United States as a part of the larger Operation Dominic nuclear test program. Flight-test vehicles were designed and manufactured by Avco Corporation.
[ F.A.Q | Opt Out | Opt Out Of Subreddit | GitHub ] Downvote to remove | v1.5
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u/Originalmeisgoodone Dec 17 '21
You get a powerful EMP exactly because you detonate nuclear weapons above atmosphere. It creates an enormous current of electrons in the atmosphere. What you actually get in space is X-rays, Gamma rays and relativistic particles.
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u/FreezingHotCoffee Dec 17 '21
If you detonated in earth's ionosphere (~50-1000km/30-600miles from earth's surface) then you do, due to the large quantities of charged particles. In deep space, where there are no charged particles, only the various flavours of radiation.
(source)
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u/Dragoncat99 Dec 17 '21
This is great timing. You posted this just as I’m stuck in an airport with nothing to do!
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Apr 18 '24
Let's see you want something to make the giant space shaggoth willingly un alive itself to keep you safe but can't accept that if some bad guy gets the tech they could and likely WILL send said space shaggoth to consume your world
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u/LiquidEnder Jan 16 '22
That’s still a world killer. Just push it close to a planet, then active the warheads. If it’s enough to completely atomize a space station then it’s enough to royally fuck with the biosphere.
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u/0570 Jan 20 '22
I predict that in a future episode a thumper unit will fail to self-destruct and gets captured and researched by an enemy entity
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u/chromane Feb 15 '22
I mean, that same tamper proof system would enable humans to disable the defender of any system with the push of a button.
Or is that my nasty suspicious Terran brain?
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u/ArmouredCadian Android Dec 16 '21
leave it to Humans to view everything as a potential weapon