Laira Darkhold
Well-Known Member
AE-EX1 PHASE DRIVE
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To make a thing I thought would be neat
Image Source: Not Applicable
Canon Link: Phasehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Phase (Force Ability) | Sub-Hyperspace
Restricted Missions: Not Applicable
Primary Source: Phasing Cloaking Devicehttp://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Phasing_cloaking_device (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Alderaan Engineeringhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/102401-alderaan-engineering/
Model: Experiment One
Affiliation: Closed-Market
Modularity: No
Production: Unique
Material: Electronics, Hyperdrive Components
SPECIAL FEATURES
Strengths:
The EX-1 Phase Drive is an experimental technology developed using Alderaan Engineering’s knowledge of Sub-Hyperspace as a basis for the concept. This time rather than creating a faster than lightspeed drive, the intention was to allow a ship to temporarily become intangible, allowing it to phase through solid matter.
One of the main differences between Sub-Hyperspacehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sub-hyperspace and Hyperspace was that things travelling through Sub-Hyperspace could still be seen from realspace, most notably Starkiller Base’s beam weapon firing into the Hosnian System. The Phase Drive doesn’t punch a hole in the continuum like the Phantom Drive, it simply doesn’t have the power required to perform such a feat. Instead it allows a vessel to temporarily shift between Sub-Hyperspace and Realspace rendering it intangible to realspace objects, able to pass through matter and allowing matter to pass through it unfazed but it remains close enough to Realspace to be seen and have forces such as gravity, magnetic force, and energy pulses act upon it normally.
Because the vessel operates on similar principles to a Hyperdrive, the Phase Drive produces a field around the vessel just like a hyperdrive, that allows the contents of the vessel to interact with the ship normally. Pilots are still able to maneuver the ship and crew aren’t suddenly left stranded in the vacuum of space under normal circumstances (though sometimes Ion Weaponry can deactivate this safety feature or deactivate the Phase Drive entirely). These principles also prevent it from phasing out parts of an enemy ship and tearing chunks out of them as the field will not activate if it cannot envelop an entire vessel and the drive will not shift them out of realspace at all. Normally, if a ship attempted to revert to solid-state inside an object it was theorized, and rightly so, that the crew of the vessel would be terminated almost instantly and the parts of the ship within the solid object would be rendered useless. If the object in question was an enemy ship it would likely have corridors, access tunnels, and other openings blocked by pieces of the phased ship that were able to return to solid-state within the open space, but would be unlikely to be severely damaged.
Testing showed that a vessel was unable to pass through things with significant gravitational fields, such as planetary bodies or celestial bodies of significant mass and density as the gravity of those would force the vessel back into realspace, usually with catastrophic consequences. Testing in fact uncovered numerous drawbacks to becoming intangible. Being unable to fire weapon systems or activate shields meant a phased vessel’s combat capabilities were heavily reduced.
Energy fields such as those used by turbolasers and ion cannons, along with several other types of directed energy weapons, meant that a phased ship could still be damaged by enemy craft as the heat from the encased plasma melted internal compartments and degraded electrical components while the plasma simply continued to expand unobstructed by the intangible hull. Thus, while the plasma wouldn’t strike the phased vessel, a much larger area would be damaged by the resulting heat and energy the bolt produced. Shielding however, seemed to work on a different frequency, and while certain shields could be modulated to interact and act as a barrier to test vessels such as Molecular Shielding, normal deflector shields and its sub-types did not.
Additionally since the Phase Drive operates on such similar principles as a Hyperdrive, Hyperdrives are not able to be charged or activated while phased. Maneuvers and acceleration are reduced significantly (Extreme to Moderate, Moderate to Low, etc) as the engines struggle to compensate for the altered state and condition of the ship, shifting between sub-hyperspace and realspace.
Rumor that the project was almost scrapped due to cost were not entirely false, however the project remained when someone with authority and a large bank account declared “Yeah, who cares about all that . How cool would it be to phase through a mountain or some crap like that?!” and thus it continued to receive funding.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To make a thing I thought would be neat
Image Source: Not Applicable
Canon Link: Phasehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Phase (Force Ability) | Sub-Hyperspace
Restricted Missions: Not Applicable
Primary Source: Phasing Cloaking Devicehttp://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Phasing_cloaking_device (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Alderaan Engineeringhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/102401-alderaan-engineering/
Model: Experiment One
Affiliation: Closed-Market
Modularity: No
Production: Unique
Material: Electronics, Hyperdrive Components
SPECIAL FEATURES
Strengths:
- Intangibility: When active, the Phase Drive renders the vessel and its occupants intangible to things outside the hull, allowing it to pass through matter and matter originating outside of it to pass freely through it.
- Reduced Sensor Signature: While phased, the vessel is harder to detect with sensor systems.
- Energy: Certain types of energy, such as those used by Turbolasers and Ion Cannon containment fields, interact with a phased ship as normal, the sudden eruption of heat and ionic energy causing damage and disrupting electronics remain, but the plasma doesn’t actually contact the ship. Some more advanced shields (Like Molecular Shielding) can be modulated to act as a barrier to a Phased ship.
- Gravity: Large gravity wells, like those produced by planets and celestial bodies, as well as gravity well generators and pulse-mass bombs, will tear the vessel back into realspace.
- No Hyperdrive: While active, the vessel cannot enter hyperspace or power up its hyperdrive.
- No Shields: While active, the vessel is unable to project the many different types of shielding that it may be equipped with. There are no known shield types that are able to be generated and projected on a vessel while the phase drive is active without explosive consequences.
- No Weapons: While active, the system interferes with weapon systems, preventing them from being able to be fired. Some technicians have theorized bombing while phased, but that can’t be done in zero gravity.
- Internal Reversion: Normally, reverting to realspace within an object means the immediate disabling of the ship and destruction of the crew, however it has less harmful effects on the object it reverts within. Most asteroids remained completely intact, ships have obstructions suddenly within them, but are unlikely to be disabled by such a feat.
- Reduced Speed and Maneuverability: The phase drive reduces the effectiveness of engine units while active, reducing an A-wing’s abilities to about that of an X-wing or a Fast Frigate to an average speed.
- Reduced Sensor Abilities: Crystal Grav Traps, Hyperwave Signal Interceptors, and other advanced sensors have extremely reduced accuracy when phased, making the vessel rely on basic sensors and good situational awareness while Phased.
- Size restraint: While capable of being scaled to a degree, the largest test vessel was 500m.
- Activation/Deactivation: The Phase Drive isn’t a system that can be activated and deactivated like a light switch, it takes a moment or so to use and to shut down, resulting in noticeable bursts of cronau radiation while active.
- Short Bursts: The Phase Drive can only remain active for a minute or so at best, regardless of power source or number of drives someone attempts to shove into a single ship, and so cannot be simply left active.
The EX-1 Phase Drive is an experimental technology developed using Alderaan Engineering’s knowledge of Sub-Hyperspace as a basis for the concept. This time rather than creating a faster than lightspeed drive, the intention was to allow a ship to temporarily become intangible, allowing it to phase through solid matter.
One of the main differences between Sub-Hyperspacehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sub-hyperspace and Hyperspace was that things travelling through Sub-Hyperspace could still be seen from realspace, most notably Starkiller Base’s beam weapon firing into the Hosnian System. The Phase Drive doesn’t punch a hole in the continuum like the Phantom Drive, it simply doesn’t have the power required to perform such a feat. Instead it allows a vessel to temporarily shift between Sub-Hyperspace and Realspace rendering it intangible to realspace objects, able to pass through matter and allowing matter to pass through it unfazed but it remains close enough to Realspace to be seen and have forces such as gravity, magnetic force, and energy pulses act upon it normally.
Because the vessel operates on similar principles to a Hyperdrive, the Phase Drive produces a field around the vessel just like a hyperdrive, that allows the contents of the vessel to interact with the ship normally. Pilots are still able to maneuver the ship and crew aren’t suddenly left stranded in the vacuum of space under normal circumstances (though sometimes Ion Weaponry can deactivate this safety feature or deactivate the Phase Drive entirely). These principles also prevent it from phasing out parts of an enemy ship and tearing chunks out of them as the field will not activate if it cannot envelop an entire vessel and the drive will not shift them out of realspace at all. Normally, if a ship attempted to revert to solid-state inside an object it was theorized, and rightly so, that the crew of the vessel would be terminated almost instantly and the parts of the ship within the solid object would be rendered useless. If the object in question was an enemy ship it would likely have corridors, access tunnels, and other openings blocked by pieces of the phased ship that were able to return to solid-state within the open space, but would be unlikely to be severely damaged.
Testing showed that a vessel was unable to pass through things with significant gravitational fields, such as planetary bodies or celestial bodies of significant mass and density as the gravity of those would force the vessel back into realspace, usually with catastrophic consequences. Testing in fact uncovered numerous drawbacks to becoming intangible. Being unable to fire weapon systems or activate shields meant a phased vessel’s combat capabilities were heavily reduced.
Energy fields such as those used by turbolasers and ion cannons, along with several other types of directed energy weapons, meant that a phased ship could still be damaged by enemy craft as the heat from the encased plasma melted internal compartments and degraded electrical components while the plasma simply continued to expand unobstructed by the intangible hull. Thus, while the plasma wouldn’t strike the phased vessel, a much larger area would be damaged by the resulting heat and energy the bolt produced. Shielding however, seemed to work on a different frequency, and while certain shields could be modulated to interact and act as a barrier to test vessels such as Molecular Shielding, normal deflector shields and its sub-types did not.
Additionally since the Phase Drive operates on such similar principles as a Hyperdrive, Hyperdrives are not able to be charged or activated while phased. Maneuvers and acceleration are reduced significantly (Extreme to Moderate, Moderate to Low, etc) as the engines struggle to compensate for the altered state and condition of the ship, shifting between sub-hyperspace and realspace.
Rumor that the project was almost scrapped due to cost were not entirely false, however the project remained when someone with authority and a large bank account declared “Yeah, who cares about all that . How cool would it be to phase through a mountain or some crap like that?!” and thus it continued to receive funding.
