Hello Sci-fi fans and writers, I hope that this here is the correct spot to ask this question regarding a conundrum I have come about during my work on a sci-fi short Story.
Outline
In said Short Story, I have some people (Agents) chasing after some other people (Heroes). The heroes stumbled upon some critical information that could damage the faction (Bad Guy) that employs the chasing party. The information got intercepted in time, but to make sure that the information wouldn’t be leaked again, they would need to silence the heroes.
Technology
In space there are two modes of flight: conventional reaction based propulsion and a higher speed propulsion which uses a so-called jump drive which flings the spaceship along a predetermined trajectory at high sub-light speeds (max speeds would be 0.5c). There is near instantaneous communications, but you would need to be in coverage of the network itself, which is flaky at best.
Conundrum
So how would agents be able to intercept / interdict the heroes in a plausible fashion? Would it be reasonable to have a micro wormhole generator or some other way to deploy gravimetric wells, which would destabilize the entire star system? Would it be anticlimactic to just have the agents wait for the heroes to finish their jump, as they would know where they would drop out?
I would love to hear opinions and suggestions from you.
@DmMacniel If they don’t need to catch, only destroy, and the Jump is an on-rails sort of thing then some sort of faster-than-jump weapon would be enough. The bad guys can make jump deadly for the heroes because the guns shoot faster and once you’ve jumped you can’t dodge.
Sending a torpedo or other device that would act as a landmine in their way that would either disable their ship or destroy it outright is a very cool idea!