Aliens Laughed at Our 'Primitive' Weapons, Until We Pulled The Trigger | Best HFY Stories

If you enjoyed the story please consider subscribing!
A group of arrogant, technologically-advanced aliens land on a seemingly ripe-for-conquest planet. They detect the presence of a small human colony, and their scans reveal what they believe to be primitive, clumsy weaponry. Emboldened by their perceived advantage, the aliens launch a swift attack. However, the humans' "bulky" weapons turn out to be railguns, firing hypervelocity kinetic projectiles that tear through the aliens' ships and defenses with devastating ease.
Follow us on Facebook: / starboundhfy
Consider tipping our amazing human writers: ko-fi.com/starboundhfy
Follow us on TikTok: / starboundhfy
Join our Patreon for exclusive perks: / starboundhfy
Original story written by Starbound Stories.
✫ Welcome to Starbound Stories, the premier destination for sci-fi enthusiasts and admirers of human ingenuity. Our channel is dedicated to HFY (Humanity, F**k Yeah!) content, blending the awe of science fiction with the remarkable potential of humanity. Explore narratives where humans outwit aliens, triumph in interstellar wars, and showcase resilience in uncharted galaxies. Our collection includes space exploration epics, time travel escapades, and tales of advanced human-created AI, all celebrating human triumphs and innovations. Each story is a testament to human spirit and creativity, perfect for those seeking cosmic adventures where humans are the heroes. Join us to experience the exhilarating journey of humanity's indomitable spirit in the vast expanse of sci-fi fantasy. ✫
HFY Stories, Short story for sleep, fantasy sleep story
#scifi #scifistories #hfy #redditstories #scifi #writingprompts #shortstory #hfystories #hfy #writingprompts #scifi

[@StarboundHFY]

What weapon would Aliens be shocked to see fired?

[@billstream1974]

A Thompson 45 sub machine gun at short range

[@mattbrown5511]

Whatever version of the Mk19 grenade machinegun is in use.

[@JamesSavik]

Barrett 50 cal

[@karal_the_crazy]

A-10 thunderbolt

[@SandraNelson063]

A T-shirt launcher.

[@luish.990]

No matter how advanced technology gets. A rock to the head is still a rock to the head.

[@nightfallen_6785]

I love that! top ten quotes right here XD

[@willhuey687]

I want to see more of this quote.

[@ephemispriest8069]

A sling will still kill a man.

[@Legohaiden]

Top Comment lol!

[@stizzo135]

A rock, made out of tungsten metal, hurled at a tenth of light speed, no less. I wonder how they manage the recoil on those guns?

[@mikkelnpetersen]

Never underestimate the effect of a piece of metal moving at high velocity.

[@Kshthymyla]

0.10c is indeed fast! 18,400 miles per second!

[@Doom-rv4go]

And in meters a second?

[@averygoldfish7028]

@@Doom-rv4go29M m/s or .1 speed of light

[@Doom-rv4go]

@@averygoldfish7028 damn 29 million

[@SgtAwesome97]

@@Doom-rv4go Yeah, kinda puts into perspective just how insanely fast light is when that's only 10% of C

[@TanyaSapienVintage]

What you have to realize about humans is that while we still tend to throw rocks...we've gotten _Really_ *REALLY* good at it.

[@epicmeme3264]

really really fucking good at it

[@kyze8284]

The only thing in history we’ve done for warfare is learn how to throw more dense rocks at increasing speeds I like to imagine a super advanced civilization only used to defending against energy weapons, where energy shields would be completely useless against even a bow and arrow. “You can’t hurt us! Our body shield divert any and all energy bolts from even touching us!” Some random African tribe with a bow and arrow killing one “THEY’RE SO ADVANCED THEY PENETRATE OUR SHIELDS! RUN!”

[@killman369547]

As they say practice makes perfect, and well we've had a lot of practice.

[@BBBrasil]

yeah, until you find someone with good lasers and fire solution computers. your rocks will turn into very low density plasma. you are next.

[@TanyaSapienVintage]

@@BBBrasil Tungsten bullets with chrome plating. Your move.

[@thedarcbird]

There is a programming saying that seems to fit this story: "Keep it simple, stupid."

[@mattbrown5511]

"Keep it stupid, Simple" was my Drill Sargeant's version.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

That saying was around before computers were generally available, so while fitting, it's much older.

[@DanielH-ep7th]

The KISS rule applies everywhere lol

[@kenibnanak5554]

Beteljuice and say it 3x.

[@Dusty-uy3ev]

I’m a carpenter, my favorite Foreman always told me ‘keep it stupid, stupid’ 😂😂

[@johnrobinson6449]

Theodore Roosevelt; "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"

[@gaveintothedarkness]

was thinking this exact same quote!

[@davidreddick3016]

One of my favorite quotes from The Expanse: “Say pretty please, but carry a one-kilo slug of tungsten accelerated to a detectable percentage of c."

[@nesapanjalingam704]

Thank you 💐🌺💐for all your effort & the time you put in when uploading this. It is really truly appreciated 🙏

[@harriettanthony7352]

And in 2024 the quote MUST be amended-'---you will go to jail' for assault {unless you are a Democratic party front group}.

[@jpkjnn6733]

​@@harriettanthony7352there's always some idiot that manages to twist any possible content into their own personal political BS. Grow up.

[@barneycalhoundotcom]

Red necks in space is beautiful.

[@sid2112]

And required. "Down to Earth" is a euphemism for "Solve problems in a direct and simple way". That, combined with the natural acumen of the redneck when faced with a mechanical problem, will be essential! The Expanse does this pretty well with the Belters. Working on their ships since childhood, much like a redneck kid helping Dad fix his truck. Independent minded to a fault, mean as snakes to those who would try to impose, friendly as puppies to those who come to them honestly. Yep, rednecks are the future!

[@subninja8069]

I mean rednecks can be smart... really smart

[@tarnocdoino3857]

“We shot down another one! We’ll… let’s see what fell from the sky today Cletus!”

[@barneycalhoundotcom]

"Hey Bobby, get me a 'nother beer will ya? I got 'nother one! Bring out the firework rounds, I wanna make this one light up like a shorted circuit!"

[@countcampula]

Yeeyee !

[@WilliamCook-mm9ks]

My dad taught me "the smallest man can bring down the biggest man using a gun".

[@user-cg1ni7ub9i]

As John Browning said as he was talking about the Colt single action Army in the 45LC . This makes All Men Equal

[@flazzorb]

It is the great equalizer.

[@Generic-username5]

“I have a shotgun let me prove it”

[@DarkElfDiva]

"Abraham Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal" Old West proverb

[@d4n737]

Humans started out their conquest of earth simply by saying "What if a hard object was moving really fast?". And took that to it's logical extreme. Orbital Railgun is the descendant of a proud family, watched over by it's father, the railgun, it's grandfather, the gun, grand-grandfather, the flintlock, it's grand-grand-grandfather, the sword, and the originator of the family, the club.

[@jb13611]

You mean the bow, spear, and rock?

[@Evilroco]

I think Great Uncle Trebuchet feels left out ! along with every sling weapon throughout history

[@jantotaldramafan1]

@@jb13611 Don't forget the sling and bola.

[@normanhines5189]

Don't forget the catapult, bullista and trebuchet.

[@normanhines5189]

Just ask that punk kid David who went on to become King of Israel

[@jtfbreedlove]

To quote an unnamed(?) Mass Effect character, Sir Issac Newton is deadliest SOB in space.

[@twrampage]

You will not "eyeball it"!

[@S_047]

You are not a cowboy shooting from the hip!

[@whyjnot420]

That character has a generic name. Gunnery Chief. Not a name proper, but enough of a name for a credit. The two he is lecturing are servicemen Burnside and Chung. The VA that did him is Mick Wingert. Who is credited for "Gunnery Chief, Activated Beacon VI, Blue Suns Trooper, Brainwashed Guards, Cerberus Scientist, 'Citadel' Advertisement Human, Eclipse Enemies, Emergency Shutter Control, Security Control."

[@normanhines5189]

Us human space orcs know that chucking rocks always works.

[@Juzevs]

"Armor piercing fin stabilized discarting sabot shells are the pinnacle of throwing a rock really fast to kill something"

[@libertycowboy2495]

I was an Abrams tanker years ago. Amazing what a high speed non exploding dart can do.

[@Shinobubu]

Nukes aren't the only things that utilizes Einstein's theory of spacial relativity. Railguns too. E=MC^2 Railguns are just making M move at C x 0.1

[@timthorson52]

The kinetic energy of an object can have a lot more energy than that, but it takes getting to past 3/4 the speed of light before KE goes past the rest mass energy if the mass were directly converted to energy.

[@CRGreathouse]

That's rest energy; you need the full formula for relativistic energy here, E^2 = m^2c^4 + p^2c^2, where p = mv/sqrt(1 - v^2/c^2). You basically care about everything other than the E = mc^2 part. At 0.1c, the relativistic momentum differs by only half a percent from Newtonian momentum (gamma = 1.005).

[@WillRennar]

Xill: [complex calculations for energy weapons and shielding] Humans: Kinetic energy = 1/2 mass x velocity^2, velocity = *YES*

[@dawmro]

A breath of fresh air in the stale world of AI narrations.

[@Angie254M]

Yes. I played around a bit with GPT. Not worth the effort. Cleaner and easier to write my own stories. This 'A.I.' nonsense is over hyped.

[@shinogaming4978]

Nothing will compare to a good human story! But you can use A.I. as a tool to help in though spots. Of course you cant soley rely on it.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

but have ya heard the story in the form of AI song?

[@shinogaming4978]

@@jayeisenhardt1337 some of them are funny but we should always ask the artist or atleast have its Ok if its something that he wouldnt say in real life.

[@libertycowboy2495]

Amen

[@emjizone]

Imagine DARPA receiving a research order for armor capable of protecting a vehicle from 20-ton stone projectiles.😂

[@davidkelly4210]

You don't think they have? Everything America creates, it strives to develop either a countermeasure or an even more powerful weapon. Now have they come up with something? No idea but the order definitely came out once we had a working rail gun prototype.

[@polishwingedhussar6113]

They have i believe

[@Tacgoober]

do not challenge the king of throwing rocks at unimaginable speeds

[@Angie254M]

Loved this story. Never mess with a hillbilly who owns a large gun. He won't even miss dinner in the time it takes him to realize someone is trying to muck stuff up and deal with the problem.

[@tihomirrasperic]

like in Stargate SG1 when Thor explains to Carter about the effectiveness of human weapons versus the highest technology

[@dantruong2582]

There is a special place in heaven for you. Reading this out rather then using a bot.

[@Silentplains791_YT]

Rail guns are immensely powerful and require a shit ton of energy but they are still in testing phase. It’s hard to stop an extremely fast metal dart.

[@leholen381]

The military comes back to testing them every now and then. Spends a few million or billion gives up for a while then comes back to try again. I think our biggest problem still is generating enough power to propel the slug at lethal speeds. Backyard engineers have made some handheld models and they can hurt when getting shot by them but they’re still not lethal weapons yet.

[@dragoncrypt5912]

@@leholen381 The problem isn't in the power demand. While yes, it does use stupid amounts of it, the main issue is the fact that the barrel and rails themselves can't survive more than a few hundred shots at most before ripping themselves to pieces. And that's being optimistic about it. Considering standard gun barrels are expected to last for several thousand rounds minimum and the scale of a railgun, the maintenance cost is currently too high to justify reliably developing railguns. As such, the projects is on an indefinite hold until material science advances enough to allow the gun to function without destroying itself after a couple uses.

[@brianfhunter]

@@dragoncrypt5912 - we already reach the hundreds? last time i check, it was a few dozens shots before the rails become useless....

[@dragoncrypt5912]

@@brianfhunter if I remember correctly, the record is at like 400 right now with a single pair of rails but it's still a long ways away from being completely viable.

[@brianfhunter]

@@dragoncrypt5912 - well... i think we need to convince the dude from Plasma Channel to make a better one.... hahahaha

[@TechnoMageB5]

E=mc² Imagine getting hit with a block of lead swung by a human. Now imagine that same block of lead, force multiplied by going a tenth of the speed of light. The destruction as described in this story was underrepresented.

[@PhoneyLoki]

My favorite use of railguns in fiction is the MAC (Mass Accelerator Cannon) from Halo

[@robertwarren9218]

The most inconvenient thing about a rail gun is getting a nice looking holster

[@arthurchadwell9267]

That's the bolt gun!

[@Geinophoenix]

humanity the embodiment of fuck around and find out

[@generaljesus9825]

The embodiment of throwing rocks, just progressively faster.

[@Legohaiden]

Aliens - a long history of developing ever more complex energy based weaponry and shielding to guard against it, becoming ever more advanced. Humans - What if we could throw a chunk of metal faster then fast, That could work right?

[@genghiskhan6809]

To think that what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs was literally a big rock hitting our planet fast enough. To think that if given enough time, we could develop technology that would enable us to intentionally do the same thing to other alien species.

[@garydomogalla1925]

Why do I have visions of these guys having a front row seat at a barbeque?

[@capthavic]

I've said it in 40k and I'll say it here, there is no denying the pure simplicity of just a huge effing gun.

[@vitz3]

Nice to find a hfy channel without lazy AI voice slop narration. Good stuff.

[@Lyoko012345]

Humanity’s ultimate weapon has always been a pointy stick. All we have been doing over the past million years is change size, material, and speed of the stick.

[@generaljesus9825]

A rock would be a more accurate description.

[@tuttipuffi1302]

"A pathetic display by any advanced speci-" Interupted by a composite railgun round straight through the shielding of the alien ship

[@matchesburn]

The irony these aliens faced is we humans have already developed shielding against projectiles like railguns, even today. Albeit not *_energy_* shielding like what they were making. It's just spaced armor - Whipple Shields. You'd need multiple layers for something as large as these slugs are and them going at .10 C, but there's an added issue with a slug going that fast: it's not going to remain intact when it hits something at that speed.

[@HappyAstrolabe-lm5xt]

They Lasers , Like We have a light source tourch , energy mincaronsied energy in on micro Power source (battory )

[@HrLBolle]

you know about the German Sub pens in Hamburg or La Rochel ? The British RAF tried to bust them with Grand slam bombs … The only crack the outermost ceiling … Within the operational area not even dust was kicked up and work went right on

[@matchesburn]

@@HrLBolle Two entirely different things. You're comparing armor penetration to shockwaves/overpressure.

[@HrLBolle]

​@@matchesburn If you say I compare apples to pairs, I acknowledge my lacking knowledge base. The sub-pens came to mind just because of the fact that the construction of the ceilings is layered with a substantial air gap for pressure expansion in-between them.

[@Badgerlust]

We don't have railguns projectiles that goes 10%light speed. Not yet that is

[@mojavemola]

You're thinking "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Now to tell you the truth, I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being this is a . 44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the universe and will blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, alien squid?

[@ragingjaguarknight86]

Dirty Harry, Space Detective Division 🤔🤣

[@Theire1]

The Mosin was developed in 1891 . It is still used in war today

[@derekbroestler7687]

Humans have spent our entire evolution working to perfect the art of "See that person, place, or, thing? Make it no longer exist." It's tragic when we do it to ourselves, but who knows, it might, one day, come to be the very thing that saves our species.

[@davidkelly4210]

Swamp in the way? Make it go away. Mountain in the way? Make it go away. Annoying Russians in the way? "I can confirm there are no Russians in the area."

[@user-bt8xr5si9y]

@@davidkelly4210 That last one lmao That whole situation really was just a "Fuck around and find out" for whoever that was that decided it was a good idea to attack a US-Base lol

[@davidkelly4210]

@@user-bt8xr5si9y to be fair they had no idea it was the SDF HQ or had Americans. They thought it was just a refinery under SDF control and wanted to take it for themselves/the Syrian government. The Russians knew better but were already looking to get rid of this particular unit which wasn't playing by Moscow's rules so they didn't warn them and told the US to have fun.

[@user-bt8xr5si9y]

@@davidkelly4210 As far as I remember weren't the troops in that region Wagner Soldiers? The russians denied every time that any russian troops were in the region upon request of the americans which basically gave the Americans free reign to do whatever they want and total annihilation of anything that lives within a 5 mile radius was their choice. The american way.

[@billstream1974]

Sorta reminds me of movie First Contact when Picard unloaded a Thompson on a couple of Borg.

[@pauljanetzke]

which ended up being one of the best antiBorg weapon in Star Trek Online for quite some time when they introduced it as a weapon. Still S Tier to this day.

[@ElNeroDiablo]

And DS9 had an episode based around a rifle inspired by that event, that ended up being a near-perfect assassination weapon... Said weapon was mothballed in favour of regularly changing Phaser frequencies instead. -.-;

[@thechillhacker]

Poor Ensign Lynch... But yeah, bullets (even holographic?), bat'lehs, meQ'lehs, and dk'Taghs, getting their damn necks snapped by a hacked android, etc.. the super advanced borg are also junk against melee or kinetics.

[@pauljanetzke]

@@thechillhacker Yeah I always thought the problem with the Borg was the same as the problem with Superman back in the early comic days. Both were made too powerful so needed to have a mechanism to render them vulnerable, that ended up being more comical than their actual power levels.

[@mattpie595]

There was a similar scene in an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25thcentury when he unloaded an M60 belt against the bad guys who thought the device to be a 20th century signal device. Great looks of surprise!

[@datastorm75]

Humans throw rocks REALLY well.

[@mattbrown5511]

Walk softly and always carry a big stick.

[@ssnerd583]

...A FAST stick....a very-very FAST stick....

[@themightyironoak]

Speak Loudly and Carry a Bigger Stick!

[@Whalewraith]

Always loved Stargate. They had access to all sorts of death rays and weapons but on the whole just stuck with the trusty P90.

[@StarboundHFY]

one of my favourite shows :)

[@USER_S4V4NT]

“dont tread on me” extends to space

[@ragingjaguarknight86]

No step on snek 🐍🐍🐍

[@necrozmaggron5840]

Humans: Hello Aliens! Leave or face Annihilation!

[@Mae_Dastardly]

"GET OFF MY LAWN"

[@SpaceAnimator_X]

Humanity can be very scary. But we need them.

[@elijahaitaok8624]

the Xill got real polite after their run in with the Humans

[@atticusseverus]

Oh god that ending portion 'when they learned how to punch holes in starships'! LOL!

[@leolordful]

My question is , why didn't they angle the shields? The story clearly depicts the shields interacting with the projectile before it penetrated so it obviously was having some effect. If you can't outright stop something, deflect it.

[@nightfallen_6785]

By the time the realized it was to late, plus... Hit something fast enough with the right projectile, and It won't deflect.

[@leolordful]

@nightfallen_6785 for your first point, I was referring to when he was trying to develop a shield that could stop MAC rounds. As to your second.... that's not how that works, that's not how any of this works. At a certain angle it will still deflect, just faster.

[@nightfallen_6785]

@@leolordful i see what you mean for the first. as for the second, shoot and arrow at differing speeds at a piece of wood. Shoot the arrow fast enough and it will go right through. Angle it and sure it will deflect but all you have to do is raise the speed or change the shape of the dart (forgot to add that). That is how tank armor and projectiles work. If no penitrate, shoot faster, harder, or change what is shot. (Plus, at a 10th of the speed of light, I doubt you can even deflect that. but then again, we are talking about sci-fic so anything is possible.)

[@noppornwongrassamee8941]

@@nightfallen_6785 Or it will deflect, but the deflection is too small and the projectile will still hit your ship anyway because the projectile is too fast and the deflection point too close. "Dammit! I missed. Shot hit two meters from my aim point!"

[@nightfallen_6785]

@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Yea, you worded it much better than I did XD

[@rossdavies8250]

Really like your narration. Pleased to see that your subscribers are growing.

[@StarboundHFY]

Thank you very much!

[@HrLBolle]

"... One day, the guns might be turned outward, aimed not in defence, but towards a new horizon." The human arsenal shall stand as the arms to defend the last bastion of civilizations the galaxy over

[@rdtradecraft]

If brute force doesn't work you're just not using enough of it.

[@normanhines5189]

Don't force it; use a bigger hammer.

[@flazzorb]

Reminds me of stargate. The replicators' shields were untouchable to the advanced energy weapons of the Asgard. To human missiles and projectile weapons, however, the shields were toilet paper for all it mattered. Until they adjusted at least.

[@KuddlesbergTheFirst]

In 40k I wonder if there was a planet with folks living like it is Tennessee or Texas. Many left Earth/Terra bringing their culture with them. Guns and fine barbecue.

[@Adrian_shepherd927]

Yall quit saying Top teir glazing there's probably a another race out there doing the same thing 😂😂

[@yukariyakumo9622]

When i heard southern accent i knew the aliens had done fuck'd up and were about to find out.

[@freestonew]

YES! of course, as the University of North Carolina found out when studying North Carolina accents, there are 105 *different* versions of southern accents in that state! Good Job, you all, in choosing this accent for such a good story! Same plot as in many AI generated stories but it is the *way* a story is told rather than the actual plot, that counts for all!!

[@MrAndyBearJr]

The one thing that kind of throws a monkey wrench in this storyline. Beings capable of near light or superlight travel have already had to deal with objects striking at high velocity. Otherwise, even the smallest particle colliding with their ship while travelling at such relativistic speeds would devastate their craft. So they would already have to come up with the technology to counter these forces in order to make interstellar travel a feasible option.

[@youknowihadtodoittoem3579]

Truuee, though potentially their workaround could be something similar to isolating the ship in a sort of space bubble and transporting that bubble of 'space'. Rather than moving through space they'd be moving space itself, this would avoid hitting debris.. planets.. stars, because you're not actually colliding with them, you're just moving the space the star inhabits behind the space of your FTL bubble

[@Serahpin]

If railguns are such a fundamental technology, why doesn't everyone use them?

[@haveraygunwilltravel]

Takes large amount of electric power.

[@Serahpin]

@@haveraygunwilltravel They have interstellar travel, but can't power a railgun?

[@nathanielhill8156]

​​@@SerahpinA 100% efficient rail gun needs 4.5 *10^14 Joules of energy to propel a 1kg slug to 0.1c. For reference, That's about the same amount of power that NYC consumes in a day.

[@ssnerd583]

@@nathanielhill8156 ...and how much power could be produced from something like zero point energy?? or even anti-matter?? plenty......and a 1kg tungsten slug at 10%c would likely do just fine out to planetary ranges, I should think

[@AenVegra]

​@@ssnerd583 Do ya really wanna know? Lactaplasm (something in my scify) uses real numbers of matter/antimatter mass energy. 1 kilogram of Mass-energy/this material produces 90 petajoules, or 9x10^15 joules. 20 shots. Now. Travelling in a frictionless plane with warping the speed of light/inertial mass can be done with as little energy as the vacuum constant of either Interstellar of Intergalactic space, depending on which. Intergalactic space is much less, and thus can be crossed faster with much less fuel, though the distances are so much father that it requires a certian degree of higher energy output or extreme shielding and otherwise. If I recal... It is 10^-21 kilograms per square meter intragalactically, intergalactically its 10^-27. Some can even perhaps use accelerated Quantum decay to harvest energy from that vacuum space matter that impacts with their ship, instead funneling to be used. In this case, it might require... significantly less energy to function.

[@Badgerlust]

This why we need to build orbital defense system with railguns

[@libertycowboy2495]

Wondering if a rail gun in space would work. Seems like it would just propel the gun away from the target because of that pesky 3rd law.

[@myles3856]

Halo Orbital defence platforms basically then

[@VAMPS000]

​@@libertycowboy2495 actually it would be much Stronger since no Resistance ig ?

[@mikoto7693]

And if they come back, this time it’ll be worse because they left their broken ships behind for humanity to take apart, reverse engineer, master and improve upon.

[@beachcomberbob3496]

Don't celebrate too soon - here comes a redirected 'dinosaur killer' from the outer reaches of the solar system. Rocks beat sticks.

[@libertycowboy2495]

We would play tennis with it. We have already redirected an asteroid. We are getting to the point of true orbital defense

[@Beth_OMette]

"Planet killing?" "Oh, I just joke... planets was easy... stars got a bit harder. Systems were just a logical jump... say you don't know a whole lot about quantum entanglement, or dark matter do you?"

[@mikeb.7068]

One tenth of light speed is 18,600 miles per second. This would take an enormous amount of energy.

[@Mieskiste33]

you know why they let the first L.A.S.E.R. hit ? To aquiere the energy needed to fire that beast

[@iveL.rehtaM]

@@Mieskiste33 Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

[@InvaderMedia420]

it’s not a huge issue, but in my personal opinion, if you’re going to do either ads or asking for us to subscribe either do it before you start the story or at the end of the story it does throw us for a loop when you cut into the story for these brakes. You also could just do two stories and have the break occur after the first story is done.

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

This reminds me of a story my dad told me as a kid, about a future full of laser weapons and shielding. One day, someone found some ancient plans for a revolver, built one, and took out all of the bad guys. Their forcefields were useless against a slug.

[@emjizone]

Now, let's be serious. Realistically, a species capable of moving large vehicles from one star system to another needs to know how to manage kinetic energy: it moves mass at high speed, so it needs to be able to avoid the damage caused by dust and small asteroids at the same relative speed.

[@pablotomasllodra4423]

That’s what energy shields were there for.

[@retrozmachine1189]

Lisk's voice characterisation reminds me a lot of Gruber of 'Allo 'Allo.

[@JohnJBrowne11209]

That was a wonderful show

[@andyf1235]

As soon as he said railgun I started laughing. Your narration with the voices gave the story a great depth and immersion other channels using an A.I. voice don't have

[@pablotomasllodra4423]

That just means that those humans faced worse things from either themselves or much, much worse. No wonder they acted so causal.

[@michael-jl7qv]

Even a simple shepard named David, took down and killed, a big armored giant with a simple weapon and a small stone, who was threatening his people

[@Polskie573]

a gun is a gun, like how a weapon is a weapon no matter how primitive it is it still packs a punch

[@topazlynx2228]

I always love to see stories like this were super highly advanced species get wrecked by primitive tech. Don't bring a laser to a Railgun fight.

[@carnacthemagnificent2498]

I used to read Analog and Asimov's magazines in the 80s and recall a story about an alien race of basically teddy bears in a privative ship with stardrive. It was so basic a discovery all many planets had it in their technological infancy, like the wheel. They arrived at earth ready to conquer with their flintlocks and were met with solders armed with modern rifles. They captain's last thought was shock that that these creatures didn't have stardrive and then the horrified realization that humans had somehow never discovered stadrive tech and instead spent all their years developing weapons, and now they'd have the stardrive as soon as they took the ship apart - they'd conquer the galaxy without any chance of resistance. Always made me think how we think we know it all but there's a lot we don't, even simple stuff.

[@slimeinabox]

I really like how the story literally just repeats its self for half of the length.

[@warrenholmes3311]

The human woman farted and the aliens ran away. Skeered!

[@Mady-lo6qb]

While this story had less overt problems than others I've listened to, you need to figure out some way to resolve this very large bit of plot armour at 4:48. Namely, why is it that the energy beam did nothing. Now, I'm no physicist but sending a tungsten slug at 10% the speed of light at 8:46 is going to take a lot of power. So might I suggest that the weak localised energy signature that they picked up at 0:30 was wrong somehow. That in fact, the colony had access to an enormous source of energy and that this was able to dissipate (or absorb?) the energy shot at it. When Commander Velrak was sent off to R&D, his task should have been to develop their own railgun that they could eventually mount on their ships and return the favour. His failure should therefore not have been how to shield against the effects, but that he would be unable to replicate the kinds of speeds to get the projectile at 10% the speed of light. And his dawning realization that these low tech humans were somehow able to harness and direct enormous power all the while, looking like a primitive settlement and without blowing themselves up. Now the only flaw in this idea, is how are the Xill doing space travel? Because if they are travelling at near speed of light or have warp technology, then one might surmise that somewhere in their technological past, that they knew how to do this too. Or maybe they started on this technological road, but eventually discarded it in favour of the new tech energy beams. 🤷‍♀ I mean, I know you want to present the idea of physical slugs being better than plain energy - but I don't see how you can separate it completely. A physical slug needs some form of energy to get from A to B whether kinetic or otherwise.

[@sterlingmullett6942]

They would be better served working on a "tractor beam" type technology and simply pick up an asteroid along the way and fly very fast at the planet - faster than light ships after all - then "let go" of the asteroid at the right time. You'd probably lose a planet this way but the battle would be over quickly. What a terrible idea. Burn down the forest to kill one rabbit as it were. Nevertheless, this story has several issues with the technology and some perplexing decisions by the characters. Additionally, the ending feels a bit lengthy. However, overall, it is better told than the AI-read stories that are becoming increasingly common. I enjoyed your comment. Thank you.

[@kellscorner1130]

I'll give you props for not using an AI t2v. much respect.

[@mateuszslawinski1990]

Reminds me sci-fi novel where aliens invade Earth Independence Day style and set up outposts only to be routed by classic guerilla.

[@seanwalters1977]

Finally a HFY channel without an AI narrator!

[@Vaquero4382]

Very good...very good.

[@StarboundHFY]

Thank you!

[@David-just-David]

That was that was a good story

[@captain_calcium3963]

"Oh. You can deflect lazers? Okay, have fun with this buckshot then." Logic of the Mandalorians.

[@louisstokes1498]

Lisk was turning in to a leprechaun

[@blackcountryme]

Sound's like a Scottish alien,

[@savagelee6973]

I love it when the Humans are the good guy's.

[@Rocketenginetoaster]

me watching rn: oops didn't subscribe... *instantly subscribes*

[@CJ-jo6do]

That projectile at 10% the speed of light would hit like a small nuclear explosion 💥.

[@cartercoffman1021]

21:31 "Walk softly and carry a big stick." - Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

[@raymartinie4630]

Very much reminds me of Turtledove's The Road Not Taken, which I've always wanted to be properly adapted for the screen, big or small.

[@randomentity6553]

Aliens be all threatening until they stride confidently up to us and realize they're 3 of our inches tall.

[@AlanMyronPrivate]

Humanity for the win.

[@Dr_Martex]

Remember, Kids. On it's own, it may be just a hunk of tungsten, but if you throw at something at a velocity of *YES* KM/s, that thing is absolutely gonna die.

[@kyze8284]

An alien flagship vs a single colony with a spare repeating railgun that has tungsten and not even depleted uranium rounds Man that makes me laugh more than I should

[@pandoratheclay]

Good job on the tungsten, it sure is dense

[@Layarion]

i would like a one-off anime of this.

[@DocDewrill]

"As long as the Caliber is Right, you can shoot pretty much anything" - Iugulo, Witchhunter

[@bucket1442]

100 years in the future* "May we learn about your railguns?" "Those old antics, sure, barely useful anymore"

[@ItsFinal.]

Aliens: fire plasma blasters! Activate Shields! Humans:YEET.

[@SteveInPalmSprings]

Just came across your channel tonight. I must say that the story line was great, but what really made this 5-star was the narration. Just like old time radio!!!

[@sharkmano1138]

the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to aliens🤠

[@CactusJuice3938]

Intomidable human spirit fr

[@lanedexter6303]

For some real chuckles, read Poul Anderson’s “The High Crusade.”

[@nirfz]

Someone did some homework. Tungsten is non magnetic, so would not react to a big electromagnetic field. But the way railguns work, i would think that the beginn of the attack by the aliens would cause damage. It wouldn't to any WW2 artillery or flak, or simple firearm. But Railguns need integrated circuits to controll them. So they would be vulnerable to such attacks. then again, if you manage to shield the electronics from a nemp, that would also be enough to shield it from "their attack" in this story.

[@michaelallen5505]

How to defeat a massive, powerful weapon capable of knocking starships out of the sky? First I would land scores of small ships, soldiers and equipment on a planet. Then I would begin a ground assault. I guess these aliens never saw The Empire Strikes Back.

[@jakobming4831]

That Mac gun can put a round clean through a covenant capital ship.

[@SedwickCountyAMR]

Moral of the story: haha tungsten go vroom

[@devinmelvig8732]

Glad to hear a real voice

[@vickymolinar4248]

I subscribed on the very first story I heard .Love your readings and voices. The best one was the French cats. Fantastic.