T Is for Torpedo

Tivk: Greetings cadets. The Chief has asked me to teach you cadets some facts regarding the First War. What can you tell me about it?

Cadet: We won!

Tivk: We did not win the war. The war ended in a treaty negotiated by /my/ people on their behalf ... and Earth’s of course.

Cadet: We would have won. The balance was ready to tip any day.

Tivk: From enslavement to extinction? Admittedly you had some bargaining power having allied with us. But the situation was still dire for you.

Cadet: We had the new cruisers coming into action. They already beat off the enemy at Neptune!

Tivk: And fighting a battle in your home system is the hallmark of a successful campaign in your universe? It was our alliance that saved Earth. It was the best strategic move you made in your entire history.

Cadet: We were building the new fleet up in reserve and getting ready for a new offensive. 

Tivk: And you expected it to do better than the first five fleets you built?

Cadet: We came back from every defeat! We matched the enemy ship for ship and then some.

Tivk: Yes. Blowing those ships up doubtless delayed their invasion. Your species has a talent for martyrdom that is unparalleled in the Orion Arm. I will admit your combat effectiveness improved when you began using our sensor systems. You began to find the enemy before your ships started blowing up. Not to mention your appropriating ...

Cadet: Torpedoes.

Tivk: Excuse me?

Cadet: Torpedoes. For most of the war we were stuck building frigates and destroyers, never mind we called them cruisers. They were at a huge disadvantage against the larger enemy ships and didn’t mount as much weaponry or shields. They did take a toll on enemy shipping because we had dozens of them raiding but they weren’t as good in defense. Then we built the torpedo.

Tivk: The torpedo was a clever idea, but it came into the war too late to be a major factor.

Cadet: It entered the war late because it stopped the enemy fleet cold. We had successes with them retrofitted on destroyers at Sirius. When the cruisers and battlecruisers came off the line the enemy knew they had to cash in their winnings.Torpedoes in naval history were game changers. Our smaller craft were capable of threatening capital ships for the first time in the war.

And your people said stabilizing enough dark matter to make a warhead was impossible. We found the exact machining of Geminite that stabilized the warhead and proved you wrong.

Tivk: We were not wrong. The mathematics were wrong. Other factors were not considered. We did not desire blowing up a small moon to prove our theories.

Cadet: No one ever missed Haumea.

Tivk: ... class dismissed. This is why Mukh’s  people release their young into the wild and treat them as vermin until they prove different. This class was a disaster.

Chief: I wouldn’t call it that.

Tivk: Really? What would you call it, Chief?

Chief: I’d call it one ‘a you down and two to go. Moral is: don’t mess with the Chief.

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