Flux Drive Proposal for a GURPS Space FTL-Drive system (c)1996 by Stephan Aspridis What: The Flux Drive operates by projecting a carefully modulated, sustained gravitational field in front of the ship. This field creates a TEM-Flux Matrix (Flux Matrix for short) which can visually be perceived as a red haze. If the ship flies into the haze, it will be accelerated beyond the Speed of Light (actual speed depends on the strength of the gravitational field). While in FTL-mode, all that can be perceived from inside the ship is the red haze. An outside observer sees the ship flying into the red haze, the front part seems to stretch and then it vanishes. An instant later, the red haze vanishes, too. At the end of the trip, the ship emerges in a short flash of light. How: To understand the the operating principle behind the Flux Drive, it is essential to consider the following definitions from quantum mechanics: 1. Transverse Electro-Magnetic Waves (TEM Waves) display wave-like and particle-like behaviour. 2. E=h*v and E=m*c**2 result in h*v=m*c**2 and v=(m*c**2)/h ...which implies that matter can be defined as a TEM Wave (hereafter TEM) with a specific frequency. If one considers that the electric and magnetic fields of matter are strong enough to saturate the space medium (resulting in the inability of space to contain two objects in the same place) and that matter has the highest total energy possible, it must have a high frequency indeed. At this frequencies, the radial velocity of the TEM's sinusoidal wave would exceed the speed of light, which is not practicable. But since these excess flux energies cannot be accomodated by free space itself, they display themselves as gravity - the higher the excess energy of the particle, the higher the gravitational effect. In summary, gravity is the resulting "flux" effect of the radial velocity of a sinusoidal TEM Wave that would otherwise exceed the universal velocity of free space. This radial velocity is "decelerating" as gravity (similar to the Cerenkov effect). This means in turn that a high gravitational effect will produce excess flux energies which cannot be dumped as gravity (due to interferences) if the input from the gravitational field is constant and carefully modulated (such as from a Flux Matrix Projector). This creates a phenomena known as TEM-Flux Matrix. Since the TEM-Flux Matrix cannot exist in our frame of reference and also cannot dump it's excess energies as gravity, it creates a spatial anomaly by creating it's own frame of reference. Any object inside the Matrix will have it's energy transferred from its (relativistic) frame of reference to the Matrix' (non-relativistic) frame and will be accelerated beyond the Speed of Light, leaving our frame of reference. Specs: As mentioned above, the Flux Drive requires an constant input from a gravitational field. To shut down the Flux Matrix Projector is to end the trip. Normally, this is done after a preset time corresponding with the intended trip length, but can be done anytime if an emergency occurs. Also, it is not possible to make a mid-course correction while in FTL-mode (it wouldn't be possible to navigate, anyway). One last thing: It is impossible for a ship without Flux Drive and very dangerous for a ship with Flux Drive to enter the Flux-Matrix of another ship. In the first case, the ship simply doesn't have the equipment to sustain the Flux-Matrix. The only thing that happens is that the ship will get a rough ride while flying through the projected gravitational field which sustains the Flux-Matrix (treat as a 7+ failure on the FTL error effect table, but skip the Engineering roll). In the second case, while possessing the right equipment, the exact modulation of the Flux-Matrix and it's vector aren't known, resulting in gravitational interferences which almost certainly will either crush the ship or tear it apart rather than propel it (apply a -8 penalty to the Astrogation roll). Game stats: FTL drive type: Hyperdrive Speed: 5ly/hr (average drive) 4ly/hr (cheap drive) 6ly/hr (expensive drive) Fuel: cost, consumption etc.: Energy costs are as described. Drive readjustment costs (100-operating percentage)% of original drive cost (i.e. a drive which is at 63% has a 37% readjustment cost). Ease of FTL navigation: Complex 3-D, with a -1 to the Astrogation roll for each 100ly traveled and an additional -2 if no information about the region is available. An hour is required for calculating the course, hurried skips give a penalty: -2 for 30 minutes, -4 for 10 minutes, -6 for 1 minute and -8 for no calculation at all. FTL Engineering skill dificulty: depends on drive type (see drive reliability for details) Obstacles to FTL travel: Ships cannot enter FTL mode within 10 diameters of a large (planetary or stellar) mass, but can emerge anywhere, as long as they are in vacuum. Time effects of FTL travel: none FTL side effects: Severe turbulence (equavilent to 3G) at transition Disorientation (-1 DX) during trip FTL error effects: depends on amount by which the Astrogation roll was failed: 1-2: Nothing happens. Vector of the Flux-Matrix was wrong. You engage the drive, but go nowhere. Roll against Engineering normally to avoid drive power loss. 3-4: Off-position (minor). You emerge at the right destination, but in a random location 3d AU away from the calculated reentry point. 5-6: Off-position (major). You emerge at a random location at the right distance. 7+ : Damage. Modulation of the Flux-Matrix was wrong. Ship takes medium damage and goes nowhere. Roll against Engineering normally to avoid drive power loss. FTL special notes: average drive is built as in p. S83, halve cost and power requirements (but not mass and volume) for cheap drives, double for expensive drives. Drive reliability: roll against Engineering (Flux Drive) after each use. Expensive drives give a +2 bonus to the roll while cheap drives have a -2 penalty. Failure means that the drive loses power by the percentage by which the roll was failed, until readjusted in a starport. Critical failure requires a verification roll. If the second roll is a success, the drive loses power equal to 10 times the percentage by which the first roll was failed, another critical failure causes the drive to break down. Maximum range: limited by drive reliability One last word: While the Flux Drive is intended to be fast, this is a "mature" version. At TL9, it would almost certainly be slower and have some additional quirks, such as more severe turbulences at transition or being more susceptible to near large masses. Credits: "What" was inspired by "The Nth degree" (ST TNG) and "How" was inspired by "Towards a Theory of Hyper-Spatial Mechanics" (Joseph S. Tomei).