Post by Lorpius Prime on Dec 21, 2010 5:37:23 GMT -5
The only means of interstellar travel which is both economical and safe, hyperdrive is a fundamental component of galactic civilization. All hyperdrives in the known galaxy were produced by one of a handful of hyperdrive factories. The factories themselves are artifacts of a forgotten civilization now known only by various labels: Precursors, Ancients, Old Ones, etc. The hyperdrive factories were old when the oldest known surviving histories were written more than 10,000 years ago.
By sacrificing vast amounts of raw materials to the input maws, a factory owner will be rewarded with a Precursor hyperdrive. The devices themselves are boxy things, about three cubic meters in volume. They have an opaque metal surface broken only by a small hatch with a locking handle, and a tiny pair of electrical contacts.
Operating the hyperdrive is simple; the hatch opens to reveal a small cylindrical receiver. Into this, the operator places a small rod of pure iron—anything else, and the hyperdrive will not function. Running a specific current through the electrical contacts activates the hyperdrive, and switching off the current deactivates the hyperdrive.
While active, the hyperdrive and a 1,000-meter sphere of space around it will travel at a constant faster-than-light speed in a direction determined by the orientation of the hyperdrive itself (the "front" is the face opposite the hatch). Once the hyperdrive is deactivated, regardless of duration, the iron rod will be consumed and a new one must be inserted before reactivation. No one has yet determined if hyperdrives have a limited lifespan, and the oldest known unit within the IS has been in operation for over 2,000 years. All known hyperdrives work in this same exact manner.
No one understands how.
Attempting to disassemble a hyperdrive is inadvisable in the extreme. While hyperdrives may be utterly destroyed by high-velocity impacts or energy strikes, more precise, targeted attempts at dismantling the devices tend to have even more dramatic effects. Most typically, the hyperdrives explode, converting any matter within its operational sphere directly to energy. More gruesome effects have also been observed. In cases where researchers have attempted remote disassembly, further mass-energy conversions have occurred centered on the operators' location, regardless of distance. Some researchers attempting to view information recorded during disassembly attempts have likewise been annihilated, even years after the original event.
The result is that, while new disassembly attempts are made nearly every year by research institutions in remote locations using elaborate techniques, few intelligent beings are willing to associate themselves with such efforts. The Precursors' hyperdrive remains a well-protected mystery.
By sacrificing vast amounts of raw materials to the input maws, a factory owner will be rewarded with a Precursor hyperdrive. The devices themselves are boxy things, about three cubic meters in volume. They have an opaque metal surface broken only by a small hatch with a locking handle, and a tiny pair of electrical contacts.
Operating the hyperdrive is simple; the hatch opens to reveal a small cylindrical receiver. Into this, the operator places a small rod of pure iron—anything else, and the hyperdrive will not function. Running a specific current through the electrical contacts activates the hyperdrive, and switching off the current deactivates the hyperdrive.
While active, the hyperdrive and a 1,000-meter sphere of space around it will travel at a constant faster-than-light speed in a direction determined by the orientation of the hyperdrive itself (the "front" is the face opposite the hatch). Once the hyperdrive is deactivated, regardless of duration, the iron rod will be consumed and a new one must be inserted before reactivation. No one has yet determined if hyperdrives have a limited lifespan, and the oldest known unit within the IS has been in operation for over 2,000 years. All known hyperdrives work in this same exact manner.
No one understands how.
Attempting to disassemble a hyperdrive is inadvisable in the extreme. While hyperdrives may be utterly destroyed by high-velocity impacts or energy strikes, more precise, targeted attempts at dismantling the devices tend to have even more dramatic effects. Most typically, the hyperdrives explode, converting any matter within its operational sphere directly to energy. More gruesome effects have also been observed. In cases where researchers have attempted remote disassembly, further mass-energy conversions have occurred centered on the operators' location, regardless of distance. Some researchers attempting to view information recorded during disassembly attempts have likewise been annihilated, even years after the original event.
The result is that, while new disassembly attempts are made nearly every year by research institutions in remote locations using elaborate techniques, few intelligent beings are willing to associate themselves with such efforts. The Precursors' hyperdrive remains a well-protected mystery.