Arquebus Drives

 

Also known to human engineers as compression drives or spatial-differential drives, Hhre'raq Engines to Zhren'thrar artificers, and referred to as Annulus drives within the Ativari conclave; Arquebus drives are faster-than-light engines relying on artificial exotic matter to compress and expand a differential in spacetime within which sits a contained pocket of normalspace containing the traveling spacecraft.  This warping effect of spacetime "forces" the normalspace pocket through the compressive field, and allows it to transition at superluminal speeds.  While in this state the spacecraft is effectively separated from the surrounding spacetime, and while traveling maintains a minimal velocity when compared to other objects.  While vessels transitioning via Arquebus fields are not affected by surrounding matter, they can be impacted by the spacetime warp of gravitational fields.  This makes Arquebus translation nearby other massive objects unpredictable (but not impossible); and allows for unique use-cases when activated alongside a gravitic drive or other form of gravitic fulcrum.

 

Drive Plates

In order to properly shape the Arquebus field; drive material must be condensed into plates or spines placed at the fore and aft of the vehicle.  These drive plates must expand to encompass the spacecraft's entire volume on their axis of travel, giving ships using this method of propulsion an angular appearance.  These are often retracted on military vessels once transit is complete to reduce interference and target profile, but civilian ships will often be constructed with their drive plates extended to minimize the costs and structural weaknesses imposed by the repositioning machinery.

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Requirements & Limitations

The angle that the drive plates are placed at to extend the differential field impacts its effectiveness - the more acute the angle that the Arquebus field is generated in relation to the vessel it surrounds allows for a faster transition of the realspace bubble; at the cost of a generally wider field and exponentially heftier power requirements.  In contrast, a more obtuse angle (forming a flatter or more hammerhead design) is generally capable of slower rates of transition, with the benefit of lower power requirements.

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In any case; the power requirements to engage an Arquebus field are extreme, limiting their use to larger ships capable of mounting such immense generator plants.  Essentially cut-off from the remainder of normal space; heat shedding within these compressive fields is exceedingly difficult; since radiated energy will often remain within the field and limit the amount of time a vessel can safely remain in Arquebus transition before they are forced to return to normal space to radiate waste heat (although this can be mitigated by energy sequestering systems such as a thermal core).

 

Because the drive plates must be engaged in a lateral direction along the line of travel; steering during Arquebus transition is all-but impossible; with the exception of field deformation thanks to gravitic interference, which can allow some limited slingshotting around particularly massive objects, or steering with the use of gravitic fulcra.  This also requires exact precision when calculating Arquebus alignments; and vessels will often undergo hours of navigational calculations and alignment before actually activating their drives.
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Relativistic Effects​

Because the normalspace pocket produced by an active Arquebus field is essentially separated from other spacetime, the effects of relativity on its internal space is limited.  Vessels within the differential field experience acceleration equal to their normal engine output.  While constant acceleration while within the field will create a limited relativistic effect on the space contained within the pocket; that effect is extremely limited compared to the compression field's otherwise superluminal transition velocity, and is usually compensated for by onboard systems that compare and update the vessel's local time to a universal timestamp upon de-transitioning.

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Other Applications​

The effect of functionally de-coupling a pocket of realspace from adjacent spacetime is also useful in limited cases for defending against attack; essentially temporarily removing a target from the space in the path of a projectile or attacking ship.  To do so requires immense energy and computational resources, and the unpredictable effect when in proximity to other strong gravitational fields often prevents its use in this capacity.

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While the pocket of space within the drive field is separated from the surrounding spacetime; disruptions in the spacetime curvature can still be detected in the vicinity of the transitioning vessel.  While the exact composition of the bubble's contents cannot be detected from outside itself, the specific contour of the field can produce a distinctive drive signature that can aid in the identification of the transitioning vessel.  This makes Arquebus drives decidedly un-subtle; and are typically used to deliver vessels to the proximity of star systems, where conventional engines will take over.

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Exposure to extreme gravitational fields or other Arquebus fields can cause the compression field to collapse; allowing such drives to be interdicted by large objects, gravitic fulcra, or ordnance equipped with their own drive fields.

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Using Arquebus drives, information can also be passed at superluminal speeds using data-couriers; autonomous or semi-autonomous vessels possessed of only drive systems and data transfer apparatus.  While such vessels are prohibitively expensive for regular use; they are commonly used by star systems for regular communication between star systems or to transmit sensitive information without relying on Amalgam data transfer.