Quantum Shift Drive

Overview

The Quantum Shift Drive, abbreviated as QSD, is a cutting-edge propulsion engine used in the United Confederacy of Nations, that allows a starship to attain lightspeed and travel through the gap between stars in the Ascension Plane, a higher plane of reality. As an outcome, the Quantum Shift Drive has played a crucial role in shaping the galactic society, trade, politics, and war in the United Confederacy of Nations.

The Quantum Shift Drive operates by propelling a spacecraft into the Ascension Plane using artificial Ascension Particles while maintaining the vessel's mass and energy profile. The spaceship then travels along a manually or automatically set trajectory until it reaches its target and returns to normal space.

Because Ascension Particles are only produced in Charybdis, Quantum Shift Drives would only be used in that galaxy. Small Quantum Shift Drive imports have been made in recent years, but there are currently no plans to deliver this sophisticated warp engine to extragalactic societies on a widespread scale.

Ascension Plane

The Ascension Plane is an alternate plane of existence in which starships equipped with Quantum Shift Drives could travel faster-than-light travel. The Ascension Plane is an alternate plane of space-time that can only be accessible through intricate interactions between various artificial and natural particles. It is identical to normal space, with each unique place in normal space providing a distinct point on the Ascension Plane.

While several aspects of the Ascension Plane remain a mystery to astrophysicists and navigation experts, it is clear that it decreases travel times, allowing starships equipped with Quantum Shift Drives to travel light-years in minutes or seconds. As a result, the United Confederacy of Nations' galactic community, commerce and trade, politics, and conflict all rely on Ascension Plane travel.

Classification

A Quantum Shift Drive's superluminal speed is measured on a reverse scale: the faster the Quantum Shift Drive, the lower the rating. These classifications, referred to as "Classes," provide a fast, albeit sometimes inaccurate, estimate of a ship's Quantum Shift Drive speed. For a given base travel time of 10 ly/s, the Quantum Shift Drive class serves as a multiplier. Thus, a Class 2 Quantum Shift Drive takes twice the base time to travel a given route, while a more expensive Class 0.5 takes only half the base time.

Currently, most militaries in the United Confederacy of Nations equip their spacecraft with Class 1 or Class 2 Quantum Shift Drives. Quantum Shift Drives of Class 2 or 3 are commonplace on industrial freighters and haulers, while civilian starships have Class 3 or higher. Many ships possess backup Quantum Shift Drives that are significantly less powerful than their primary Quantum Shift Drives.

Although tampering with the generally stable technology of a Quantum Shift Drive is considered a risky and dangerous activity, some starships have undergone black market modifications to achieve ratings that are below Class 1.