[IronBeer]

Wait... I know the cutscenes aren't really canon, but doesn't the movie depicting the Lucifer's destruction show the GTA/PVN strike craft leaving via the same subspace vortex as the Lucifer? We're well into speculation territory, so I just wanted to throw some (admittedly weak) evidence intro the fray.

[Lucika]

It was a BIG hole

[Charismatic]

From what i know, when  you enter subspace you come out the other end instantaneously. Also, we didnt 'slow down' in subspace (like when we go attack teh Lucy in subspace) till later on when we had the technology to do so. Thats why we never realized shields do not work in subspace. We never noticed.

[IronBeer]

I thought that you didn't move through subspace instantly- subspace just compresses realspace distances to allow them to be traversed much more quickly. I think you may have a point in that intra-system jumps would be very quick, and also (before the Altair campaign) ships with shielding (read: fighters and bombers) were incapable of system-to-system jumps. A jump between systems would not be instantaneous in subspace, but it would be MUCH faster than traveling through realspace. That said, jumps lasting more than a few seconds in subspace would likely give some strike craft pilots time to notice their missing shields...

[Pred the Penguin]

Wait... I know the cutscenes aren't really canon, but doesn't the movie depicting the Lucifer's destruction show the GTA/PVN strike craft leaving via the same subspace vortex as the Lucifer? We're well into speculation territory, so I just wanted to throw some (admittedly weak) evidence intro the fray.

They went through the same subspace "corridor"
It makes sense they'd come out through the same "door". =/

[TrashMan]

WTF?

No shield in subspace has been common knowledge for GTVA pilots since they begun using shields.

[Narvi]

Are people going to keep retreading over what we've already gone through?

[IronBeer]

WTF?

No shield in subspace has been common knowledge for GTVA pilots since they begun using shields.

This isn't mentioned explicitly anywhere in the campaign or reference material- we don't know that for sure until "Good Luck". That said, this thread is about the Lucifer's shield system, whether the GTA/PVN could have figured out that the superdestroyer's shields don't work in subspace before Altair, and whether they could have capitalized on that knowledge at an earlier point in the FS1 campaign.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Think about it. Shivan small ship shields do not function in subspace, so if they can't build a small shield that functions in subspace, how can you expect them to build a large shield that can do what their small shields can't?

[Mongoose]

Shivan small ships are essentially disposable.  The Lucifer is (as far as we know) a one-of-a-kind craft.  It only makes sense that, were the Shivans able to shield something in subspace, they'd put that effort toward the Lucifer and not a few dinky Scorpions.  And that's completely ignoring the point that, as far as the GTA and PVN were concerned, the Lucifer's shield was fundamentally different from any others out there, a quirk which may have enabled it to work in subspace.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Shivan small ships are essentially disposable.  The Lucifer is (as far as we know) a one-of-a-kind craft.  It only makes sense that, were the Shivans able to shield something in subspace, they'd put that effort toward the Lucifer and not a few dinky Scorpions.  And that's completely ignoring the point that, as far as the GTA and PVN were concerned, the Lucifer's shield was fundamentally different from any others out there, a quirk which may have enabled it to work in subspace.

Was it really fundamentally different, though? The size of the shield generator on the Lucifer must either be huge or of capship-integrity, in which case the Lucifer would be able to regenerate shields at a much faster rate than all the firepower of the GTA ad PVN combined against one quadrant, like what Woolie Wool said.

The thing is that the shields only protect the craft from energy- and missile-esque damage, not huge collisions. The Ancients must have encountered something like the Lucifer, otherwise they would not be extinguished. Hence, what the PVN found on Altair really was the key to destroying the Lucifer.

If the Ancients were being threatened by small craft that they couldn't destroy, they could ram them, panic over. However, if the Ancients were being threatened by large ships that they couldn't destroy, ramming wouldn't be an option as they would be mowed down before they can carry out their suicide.

* Androgeos Exeunt is wondering if he is lost. He thinks it is highly probable.

[Killer Whale]

The lucifer's shields are probably scaled up versions of the fighters'. But the GTA and PVN didn't know that.

[Dilmah G]

The lucifer's shields are probably scaled up versions of the fighters'. But the GTA and PVN didn't know that.

They probably did, I mean, that's what I thought from the start. But they probably had their doubts as well

[Pred the Penguin]

Command can't just say, I have a gut feeling that the Lucifer's shields are different, let's go in to subspace in kill them!

They need real intel to commit an attack force.

[Dilmah G]

Command can't just say, I have a gut feeling that the Lucifer's shields are different, let's go in to subspace in kill them!

They need real intel to commit an attack force.

Well they could assume that because of the shield's resistance it could be different. Lack of Intel probably compounded the whole issue as well.

[DarthWang]

Wasn't it said in the FS2 techroom that the Lucifer's shields were a "subspace sheath"?

[Dilmah G]

Wasn't it said in the FS2 techroom that the Lucifer's shields were a "subspace sheath"?

I'd never come across that before

[Droid803]

You didn't come across it because it does not exist.

"The SD Lucifer was a massive superdestroyer that led the Shivan armada in the Great War. No weapon in the allied arsenal could penetrate the Lucifer's shields. In the Altair system, Vasudan scientists uncovered ancient artifacts that explained how to track ships into subspace, where the Lucifer's shields would not function. A desperate mission to attack the Lucifer in subspace succeeded. But the explosion of the Lucifer collapsed the Sol jump node, severing all contact with Earth. The victory over the Lucifer effectively ended the Shivan invasion."

"The Lucifer is the greatest threat to the survival of the GTA, the PVN, and both the Terran and Vasudan species.  It wields three massive flux cannons which can destroy one of our capital ships in a few hits.  These same cannons have been seen bombarding colonized worlds.  With four full fighter squadrons and a massive array of defensive turrets, the Lucifer would be extremely difficult to destroy in a normal situation.  The fact that it is protected by a sheath shielding system which makes it completely impervious to any kind of kinetic or plasma damage makes it impossible to destroy.  We have yet to find a way to breach this shielding technology.  It is hoped that a solution will be found soon.

Assuming that a solution is found, we have managed to gather enough data on the Lucifer to destroy it.  In a recon mission, we were able to determine that the Lucifer is powered by five reactors across its surface.  If these reactors are destroyed in a short amount of time, the Lucifer will be stopped.  If we cannot stop the Lucifer, we do not expect to be able to defeat the Shivans.

We have no way of knowing if there is more than one Lucifer-class destroyer.  However, any that exist should be considered more dangerous than a Class A threat."

The Lucifer's shielding system is known as a 'Sheath Shield', and it does not work in Subspace. That's as related as the two terms get.