Crossover Drive

Theory

The initial concept came when a student studying cosmology at University College Dublin (UCD). Nina Verasamy was researching FTL when she noticed an unusual reaction in localised space. The effect was most noticeable when RSF Spitfires accelerated at maximum delta-V. Professor Clune, head of research at UCD, opened the research to the rest of the group and to BAe, the sponsor. Nina took up a post at BAe and completed her research that eventually lead to the Crossover Drive seen today.

Imagine the universe that you live in being an enormous globe. Now imagine that globe is a thin layer, like an onion. Inside are deeper layers of the universe, all just a little bit smaller than this one. As you drop down through these layers so they become smaller and smaller. These inner layers are what the crossover drive uses to reach distant star systems. The drive 'drops' the craft through these layers and travels the much shorter distance to its destination, before 'jumping' back into this universe. The deeper the crossover, the faster the journey.

These layers are officially called 'Crossover' or C-Space but are commonly referred to as; hyperspace, nullspace, subspace, warp space, etc. There appears to be an infinite number of smaller universes as well as bigger universes. Large masses in our universe (N-Space) make identifiable markers throughout the multiverse. These are used for navigation to some extent.

The crossover drive uses a small effect of the EgDrive to a much greater effect. It was found that the EgDrive actually effected gravity waves. This collapsing gravity effect was combined with the Alcubierre drive concept. The effect was not quite as postulated in 1994. The collapsing bubble actually dropped the craft in to this lower dimension. The reverse effect brought the craft back to it's own universal dimension.

Operation

To enter crossover a starcraft needs to be travelling at 4psl or more and travelling in the required direction. This period of acceleration gives the craft time to generate enough energy to pulse the crossover drive fields and initiate the drop in to crossover. This period of acceleration also moves the ship outside of the 'M25' limited created by a large mass, such as a star. This M25 limited is nothing to do with a specific size but is a reference of the famous M25 motorway that goes around London. The M25 limited requires a relatively 'flat' area of space free from extraneous gravitational effects. This can be outside of a stars gravitational influence or if the timing can be made at one of the many stable La Grange points within a star system.

With the craft heading in the appropriate direction towards the target star, and at the appropriate speed, and with the required energy stored in it's opal pack capacitors, the starcraft pulses it's crossover drive for 0.25 seconds. Everything within the crossover drive field drops down through the layers and continues its journey.

After the desired time in C-Space. The CNS again pulses the crossover drive, this time it uses the inverse of the drop field effect jumping back in to N-Space. The direction can then be reversed as the craft slows down at its destination.

Navigation

Many of the levels of the multiverse are completely empty, one reason why spacers refer to crossover as the 'Big Empty'. Large masses in our universe create small, detectable, gravitational 'blips' that can be used to fine tune the starcrafts location. The most common way of navigating is by carefully aligning the craft in the acceleration stage to the desired location. The crafts CNS can then use the velocity to time the journey before jumping back to normal space (N-Space).

Speeds

Depending on the level of C-Space the starcraft drops to gives a level of speed.

Crossover Psychosis

An unfortunate side effect of travelling through C-Space is crossover psychosis, or COP Out. Travel through C-Space causes severe psychological stress. Even a short trip can have problems. This is the reason that all crossover drive equipped ships have enhanced CNS systems and suspended animation capsules.

The first flight of the Sleipnir almost ended in disaster due to Crossover drive psychosis. The four crew; Commander Matt Evers, First Officer Brianna Troy; and science staff Kyla Rodgers and Bruce Willoughby were the first to ever make a crossover jump. The mission went as planned with the Sleipnir dropping in to C-Space as planned. The crew that emerged back into Proxima N-space after the 10 day jump were not quite the same. The crew were only saved by the fortunate fact that Brianna was an ex-Legionnaire capable of putting herself in to an induced hibernation state. The last to be affected she secured the rest of the crew in the autodoc, treated their injuries, and kept them sedated. Waking every couple of days to care for them.

Evers, Rodgers, and Willoughby suffered severe mental disorders caused by an unknown reorganisation of neurons within their brain. Unfortunately none of them every really recovered back to full capacity. Brianna's enhanced ICE wetware and the hibernation procedure saved her from any severe long-lasting psychosis.

9 decks, 9 realms according to the old Norse legends. Now you are not telling me that is a coincident!