The first experience with FTL transport was via a network of Star Gates that were found throughout the Empire.  These had been built by some other race and left behind.   Who left these ancient gates behind is only a mental exercise for historians and theorists.

SunStrider Technologies was commissioned to disassemble one of the Star Gates and to reverse engineer it to learn its secrets.  After many decades of research and experimentation they were able to finally reproduce the effect, but not with the efficiency of the original constructions.  Much later, they were able to design a ship portable system that could duplicate the effect without the need of having a Star Gate.  This was a major discovery, but the inefficiency of the system requires that the ships be very large and the costs are equally large.

The basic concept behind modern FTL drives is based on the theories of Dr. Daniel Schwarz, who discovered how to duplicate the field effect used by the original Star Gates.   This field effect is now known as the Schwarz Field (or S-Field).  When properly formed, the field creates a temporary wormhole which allows a shortcut to be taken between two points in space.

In order to create a Schwarz Field one has to construct huge rings of a special crystalline alloy known as Stylerion (pronounced sty-LEE-ri-on).  This is a very expensive and time consuming process which can only be done in a specially designed null gravity environment.  Basically the rings are grown like a crystal, and the matrices of the crystals must be aligned perfectly, all pointed to the center of the ring.   This process has a high failure rate, so only about 10% of the rings produced actually will form a stable Schwarz Field when energized.  It takes approximately 90 days to produce a functional ring.   Higher quality rings can be made, but take much more time and cost much more, but they have a higher success rate as well, climbing all the way up to 38%.

This was a preliminary concept of what a Carrier might look like.  The final designs were much more refined, yet were still of a very utilitarian concept.

It takes a series of five rings minimum to create and hold open a Schwarz Field.   These rings have to be placed 10 meters apart and must be a diameter 125% larger than the object that is going to pass through the opening created to avoid reflection and premature collapse.  The Schwarz Field can only be maintained for 10 seconds before becoming unstable and too dangerous to use, so to allow passage of large objects usually involves using more than five rings.

(Hyperdrive #1) Ships using a S-Field must create the field over the entire length of the ship so that it is completely enveloped in the field at the time of energizing as the rings move with the ship.  The hull must be solid and reflective so that the field will expand beyond the rings allowing them to also enter the S-Field.  A ship using an S-Field looks much different than that seen formed by a Star Gate, as there is a bright flash as the field is formed, reflected, expands, then quickly collapses.  Basically, a ships S-Field only exists for approximately 1 second where as a Star Gate's field can be held open for 10 seconds or longer.

(Hyperdrive #2)  In 2387, Dr. Charlotte Nicolet discovered a way to generate an self-enveloping S-Field.  She discovered that the rare Targo Crystals could be used in conjunction with a long tube filled with a Xenon Difloroargonate gas at 500 psi, could generate a Schwarz Field that would not only envelope itself, but everything within 5 diameters of that tube.  Minimum size of the tube is 100 meters long and 1 meter in diameter.  A matched pair of Targo Crystals are placed at opposite ends of the tube.   A huge burst of energy is fired into the negative crystal at the rear of the tube.   That crystal converts that energy into a dispersed plasma that excites the XD gas which amplifies the overall energy as well as providing a very smooth energy flow to the positive Targo Crystal.  The PTC then projects this energy forward in 12 converging beams.  At the point of convergence forms a temporal rift which allows the ship to cross over between N-Space and H-Space.
     There are two factors to consider when designing a starship with a Charlotte's Tube.   First, the ship will not be small as there is the minimum size of the tube to consider.  Second, the field created by the tube is only 5 diameters larger than the tube itself.  This means that any ship design must be built around having an essentially hollow tube running through the center of the ship.   Third factor, and probably one of the most problematic, is the enormous power consumption of engaging a Charlotte's Tube.  100 kWh per cubic foot of Charlotte's Tube is required to be sent through the NTC in a 1/10 of a second burst.  During this short burst, the entire tube climbs to an average temperature of 1500º F.  A longer burst of power would certainly melt the tube down to a puddle of molten metal and the escaping plasma would most likely gut the entire ship.

Current Day Hyperdrive

(Hyperdrive #3)  Dr. David Zaslo discovered a new way to generate a Schwarz Field that allows the field to form around the ship without the need of rings.  While doing force field research for the Imperial Navy, he discovered that he could produce a somewhat weakened Schwarz field by constructing the hull of a ship with a mesh of special alloy of Yttrium, Tellurium, and Rubidium.  This special mesh, when energized with enough energy forms a stable, though weak, Schwarz field.  It is just large enough to take the ship that forms the field and it collapses as soon as the ship enters H-Space, but is has proven to be relatively safe and much more energy efficient than earlier designs.

* Note *

Hyperdrives create temporary wormholes in space/time.  These are not as stable as those created by stationary Stargates.  As with all wormholes, regardless of origin, to touch the sides of the wormhole is to discharge and collapse the tunnel prematurely.  This is usually a catastrophic collapse and  totally disintegrates the violating vessel.

Hyperdrives can be activated at anytime, although there are certain safety issues to consider.  Activating while in an atmosphere results in a nasty explosion which usually destroys the ship and much of the surrounding area.  The reason is that the atmosphere will usually contact the sides of the wormhole and cause the tunnel to collapse.  This can be a problem whether around a planet or inside a nubula.  You don't want to activate the hyperdrive when there is debris, gas, or dust that might collapse the tunnel.

Entering hyperspace is usually done from an outbound designated area.  This area is certified to be clear of debris and safe for hyperspace activation.

Coming out of hyperspace can be dangerous as well.  Inhabited systems usually have a tachyon beacon to mark the safe arrival areas.  Most larger systems will have two or three arrival points designated.

Prior to Dr. Zaslo's design, there were only two major ways of going between worlds.  The most common and safest method was to take a standard STL ship and go through the Star Gate network.  The second method was to take a standard STL ship and hitch a ride aboard a large H-Drive Carrier.  Carriers were usually designed as long cylindrical vessels with large docking bays.  They carried large bulk freight barges as well as smaller STL ships.  The size of the ship and its docking bays determined how much they could carry.  Most of these ships were run by large corporations and run on a regularly scheduled route to make regular shipping possible.

To this day, a majority of ships do not mount their own hyperdrive due to the cost, size, and energy consumption of the system.  Most will still use the Stargate Network.  You tend to see more hyperdrive ships on the periphery where Stargates are not as common.

[ In game terms, use the standard TL 10 Hyper Drive.  The only change is that drives must be a minimum of 500 tons.]

Rate of Travel while in Hyperspace:

Once a ship is in hyperspace it uses its thrusters to maneuver around.  Your rate of travel depends on the rating of your thrusters.  If your ship can normally travel at 1g acceleration, then you will travel 1 parsec per day in hyperspace.  If your ship has a 0.5g acceleration, then you only travel one half of a parsec per day.  Very simple to figure out.

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