Silence Wall v. Multimegaton warhead

[Scooter]

I'm pondering using this idea for chapter 18 (yes, my muse has returned) of Soldier, Sailor, Jedi, Sith: Would Saturn's Silence Wall withstand the detonation of a multi-megaton warhead?

[Spokavriel]

Well whats the most destruction seen from attacks that end up being used against the silence wall in show and manga?

[Comartemis]

It depends on how you think the Silence Wall works.

I'm of the opinion that Saturn's Silence Wall is a barrier composed of the destruction mana she uses in her Silence Glaive Surprise and Death Reborn Revolution. Anything that touches this barrier is instantly shredded into its' component atoms, making it completely impenetrable to all forms of direct attack. Forget warheads, you could smash a few planets into a Silence Wall and it wouldn't even begin to break.

The radiation might be a problem though...

[Ahye]

I suspect that the problem wouldn't be the strength of the attack, it would be that any sufficently large explosion in the megaton range would be large enough to go around the edges of the wall. At least if you ascribe to the theory that it's a wall, and not a sphere. If it's a wall, then the explosion would go around the edges, or blow away the ground under it, and you'd end up with one crispy Senshi. If you go by the theory that it's a sphere, then it's possible that it might stand up to the blast, but Saturn and anyone else inside would likely still have to deal with all the secondary effects, Namely heat, light, and sound. She might keep the wall up for a good long time, but she'd have to drop it eventually, and unless she's out in space the area where she is standing is likely to be very unhealthy due to heat. Not to mention that the light from the blast would have blinded her, and the sound deafened her. Although, granted, if it's a silence wall, then sound might not get through. Another possibility is the force behind any such blast might throw a Silence Sphere some distance from where it was.

[bissek]

If the Silence Wall only deflects matter, and not energy, as Comartemis suggested, then it would be useless against incendiary weapons, as the heat released from the explosion is sufficient to cook Saturn, whether she's hit by the material in the bomb or not. Seeing as there isn't anything on Earth that generates more heat than a thermonuclear detonation (if only for a brief instant), that kind of shield would be useless against a nuke if Saturn's at ground zero.

[Comartemis]

Another possibility is the force behind any such blast might throw a Silence Sphere some distance from where it was.

*Pictures Saturn bouncing down the street like a pinball*

If the Silence Wall only deflects matter, and not energy, as Comartemis suggested, then it would be useless against incendiary weapons, as the heat released from the explosion is sufficient to cook Saturn, whether she's hit by the material in the bomb or not.

Except it obviously does deflect energy; it blocked Nehelenia's black lightning in the Stars anime quite easily.

[Spokavriel]

Ok that's a canon reference. So how much damage does that attack do to something not shielded? What canon attacks have been used on it and did any of them show an effect?

I kinda asked about things in Manga and series because I Know Comartemis will always believe it is the Alpha and Omega of defense. So did anything in Canon get Saturn to drop the shield or cause the silence wall to shrink or fail?

I'd think instances like that would be a better measuring tool to see if it could be of any use in that blast.

[Comartemis]

I kinda asked about things in Manga and series because I Know Comartemis will always believe it is the Alpha and Omega of defense. So did anything in Canon get Saturn to drop the shield or cause the silence wall to shrink or fail?

She dropped it during the execution of the Silence Glaive Surprise and didn't raise it after the Silence Glaive was knocked out of her hands during the battle with Nehelenia in the anime, so it probably depends on her having her hands on the glaive.

[Heaven's Deamon]

Another thing is that the attack in question was likely focused, blocking a focused shot of energy is one thing, blocking a difused wave of energy could well be something else. then there is the type of energy, the attacks in canon would likely all have a "magic" modifier tacked onto them, thus one could say that it might not be as effective at block non magical energy.

[Scooter]

So, I'm going to go with the qualified "Maybe" then.

[Comartemis]

If the other Senshi are present and able--i.e. it's probably part of the climax--you could have them use a variation on the Sailor Planet Attack and focus their energy into the shield.

Ginzuishou + Silent Wall = Perfect Defense

[Scooter]

I probably should have been clearer, when I posted this question.

Here's the scenario:

The Saturn was rocked, as multiple blasts from one of the opposing force’s destroyers—an ugly squat green-grey thing, whose bridge sat far forward of the engines, on a thin connecting neck—strafed the battlegroup flagship. Personnel on the bridge of the EarthForce Star Destroyer were knocked to the deck as inertial dampening lagged, then caught up. A short-lived ball of fire erupted on the forward face of the command tower, as the bridge deflector screen failed. “Bridge deflector out!” The tactical officer shouted over the din of klaxons. “Back ups are not responding.”

“Intensify forward batteries,” Captain Ramsay ordered, as the mile-long battleship trembled from hits along her armor. “Nothing gets through.”

“Captain, Yamato’s been hit. Power failure to most of her systems. Invincible and Nemesis are towing her out of the combat zone.”

“Sith spit. Communications, task Hornblower and Nimitz to provide cover.”

“Yes sir.”

As a point of order, Invincible and Nemesis are Victory-class Star Destroyers; Hornblower and Nimitz are Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers. Neither of which were ever seen in the movies, but are part of the Expanded Universe SW canon.

Off in the distance and lost amid the wash of electromagnetic pulses, background radiation, and the starfield, a missile launched before it could get an accurate lock on a ship had locked on to the largest signature it found—the Saturn. Hotaru shivered, before fixing her gaze on a certain spot, on the ship’s relative 12 o’clock. Even as experienced bridge officers ducked as two more enemy destroyers exploded near the command tower, the Senshi of Destruction was already walking towards the forward-most viewports, Glaive in hand.

She stopped and stared past her reflection in the transparent steel viewport, her eyes tracking the unseen missile. Ramsay looked at the nominal commander of the battlegroup, before a realization came to him. “Helm,” he called over the din, “evasive maneuvers! Tactical, more firepower forward. Melt the barrels if you have to. Engineering, where are my damn shields?” A free-fire zone erupted all along the dorsal hull of the Star Destroyer as laser and turbolaser tried to shoot down the incoming missile…which was about as effective as taking a mallet to a certain perverted troll.

“Hang on,” Ramsay called out to the bridge crew as the missile became visible in the viewport. Dear gods, we’re going to die, he privately thought to himself. He’d seen several Star Destroyers die in this very same manner.

Bringing the Silence Glaive parallel to the deck of her ship, Hotaru quietly said “Silence Wall,” and focused the defensive barrier into a bubble surrounding the bridge module. The one megaton warhead detonated against the barrier, bathing the forward hull of the command tower in nuclear fury. Shadows were burned into the bulkheads before the viewports automatically turned opaque to protect the crew from flash.

Hotaru fought the blast, to keep the Silence Wall from collapsing, and allowing the lethal radiation to kill off the command crew. Sweat began to bead on the teenager’s brow as the strain of holding the barrier up against the raw elemental fury of a thermonuclear explosion. As soon as it began, however, it was over. The Saturn had maneuvered clear of the blast, as the evasive maneuvers her helmsman inputted caught up with her inertia.

[Spokavriel]

I think in this scenario it's not too unbelievable. But don't forget you are defining her wall as this strong here. If you ever need to get around it down the line you will have to either top this to the point where it seems like an ordinary gun shot.

Or you could add in a few more details making it look like the shield barely holds giving yourself more leverage should you want it to eventually get overcome.

Basicly this scene will define the strength of the silence wall for the world of your fic.

[Comartemis]

Victory-class Star Destroyers

Victory I or II?

Not to be providing unasked-for C&C or anything, but I seem to recall something in my science classes about cosmic radiation, stuff you get from being close to stars and whatnot. You mentioned background radiation yourself, well what's protecting the crew from that, and why wouldn't it protect the crew from nuclear radiation? What about the hulls, and the ships' ray shielding?

Also, I'm not sure Hotaru could expand her Silence wall out to cover something as large as a command deck; it's mostly a personal defense spell. Spok more or less hit the nail on the head, but having the shield cover such a wide area struck me as being somewhat unrealistic unless Hotaru's been practicing a ton with using her magic. And if she has, I'd like to see a scene in a later battle where she invents an attack by projecting a Silent Wall along a straight line, creating a Tensa Zangetsu-style wave attack.

[Scooter]

Victory I or II?

First Generation Ones probably. Criofan would have a handful of later Ones and Twos mixed in with his forces

Not to be providing unasked-for C&C or anything, but I seem to recall something in my science classes about cosmic radiation, stuff you get from being close to stars and whatnot. You mentioned background radiation yourself, well what's protecting the crew from that, and why wouldn't it protect the crew from nuclear radiation? What about the hulls, and the ships' ray shielding?

There is, I believe, a distinct difference between the usual cosmic radiation and a close-in thermonuclear detonation with Alpha, Beta, and Gamma particles created less than a hundred meters from the ship's hull. And ray shielding for the bridge would have been taken down when the bridge generator was knocked out.

And Com, that's why I try to pick the forum's brains on stuff like this.

It's posted live here. Including the results of trying to keep that large a Silence Wall up.