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Drives
The numbers indicate a "tech
level" corresponding to the History
section.
Modern Drives
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Grav drive |
1 |
Probably the most
common maneuvering system in the universe. Small, intense,
graduated gravity fields are generated to push and pull against
control surfaces on the hulls of ships. Acceleration is generally
limited only by the structural stability of the hull and control
surfaces and the strength of gravity field the generators can
create. Complimentary environmental generators usually provide gravity
to the ship and compensate for the stresses applied to the crew,
cargo, and structure of the ship during acceleration and
deceleration. |
Warp drive
Skip Drive
Tunnel Warp
Wave Ryder
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3 |
While no
massive object can accelerate past the speed of light, the "space
time continuum" itself, having no mass, can. The Skip Drive
essentially isolates a chunk of space around a starship and
imposes upon it a controlled, quantum-tunneling effect. The ship,
and anything within the functional space of the warp field, is
essentially transported forward a short distance. By repeating the
tiny jumps in rapid secession, a ship can be carried through space
at incredible speeds. In
essence, it's not unlike a ship riding on a wave that is already
traveling through the water
rather than using engines to push through it. The precise destination
for individual jumps is subject to uncertainty principles, the deviation being greater
in longer microjumps.
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String
Drive
Slider Drive
Black Box |
5 |
The
string-drive takes advantage of the universe's
13-dimensional
nature. The detailed mechanics of the drive are closely
guarded by manufacturers but it essentially uses large quantities of
rotated particles and a carefully
modulated quantum field to coax a starship to travel through the
Manifold dimensions in addition to the Tangible. The
string drive is huge, expensive, very high-tech and requires a
long stationary prep time, ranging from minutes to hours, prior to
travel. It consumes enormous quantities of
rotated particles and is thus
expensive and strictly for the high tech consumer. This technology
is good for traveling interstellar distances quickly but is
functionally useless in-system. |
| Wormhole Key Generator |
6 |
Probably
the most complex but speediest form of transportation currently available.
Holes are punched in the fabric of space and a properly equipped ship can skim along the surface
of a tunnel between them. A wormhole generator is fabricated, comprised of two
identical components, and is dropped at each end of the
"tunnel". The
two components must be dropped, calibrated, and synchronized by an
incredibly specialized ship and both components need to be dropped
by the same ship. Ships wishing to use the wormhole then need a
wormhole key, which is comprised of a specialized set of hardware
and software that feeds a battery of 13-dimensional information about the
characteristics of the generators and the
wormhole itself. |
Historic Drives
| Antimatter jet |
0 |
This is a
primitive technology. An
antimatter reactor either expels a stream of high-energy particles
from the reaction (which provides low thrust but is relatively
efficient in terms of the amount of fuel to be carried) or ignites hydrogen in a jet-like stream (which
has higher
thrust but requires a large supply of hydrogen). |
| Antimatter ram |
0 |
A primitive technology. An antimatter reactor fires anti-electrons at
fusion-doped pellets. The resulting fusion explosions physically drive
the ship forward. |
| Ion drive |
0 |
This is
a primitive technology. It can
still be seen occasionally in the ships of developing nations,
unmanned probes, ancient colony ships, and as third prize at high
school science fairs. The Ion Drive ionizes atoms and expels them
in a jet using an electric field. Acceleration and deceleration are
painfully slow. |
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