Modification Other Hyperdrive Booster Ring

[AutoFox]

HYPERDRIVE BOOSTER RING

AFFILIATION
Free use.

MANUFACTURER
Various.

TYPE
Starship mobility upgrade.POWER SUPPLY
Starship power-plant.

SENSORS
N/A.

SIZE
Large, highly visible external mount.

COMPOSITION
Various metals, polymers and circuit components.

DESCRIPTION​

Hyperdrive, the technology which allows a starship to skip outside of normal reality and cross vast distances by traversing a mysterious dimension known as hyperspace, has been known at least for millennia in the Galaxy at large. At one time, only very large and expensive ships had hyperdrive, but over thousands of years the technology has become cheap, compact and commonplace. Despite this, not every vessel possesses hyperdrive, to the disappointment of some pilots. There is something to remedy this situation, however.

Hyperdrive booster rings, more commonly referred to as simply hyperdrive rings, were a technology that was most prominent in the centuries prior to the Galactic Civil War. Conceived as a way for small craft which could not fit the bulky hyperdrive units of the day inside their hulls, hyperdrive rings contained a hyperdrive, as well as some extra consumables, and were designed so that a vessel could dock with it. Though a docked ship would have to supply its own hyperspace calculations - either through an onboard navicomputer or an astromech droid - this afforded very small ships a greatly increased range, making them more practical for things like long-range patrols and courier work.

Hyperdrive rings arguably reached their zenith during the Clone Wars, when various models of widely produced military starfighters were designed to be used with them, due to the limitations of pre-war hyperdrives. After the war, advances in hyperdrive miniaturization - not to mention Imperial doctrine and restrictions regarding snubfighters - made hyperdrive rings largely obsolete. By the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War, they had essentially disappeared, with even many vessels originally designed to use them having been refitted with more convenient integrated drives.

Nevertheless, hyperdrive rings can still be found, largely as a "legacy" technology used by antique ships, although some fringe manufacturers still produce them. They are considered inconvenient and vulnerable by modern pilots; once its "parasite" craft is un-docked, a hyperdrive ring cannot move or otherwise defend itself, and thus may be targeted by hostile craft during a battle, stranding whatever craft was using it in-system. Common practice in battles where large numbers of hyperdrive rings were used was to have a flight of starfighters dedicated to guarding the discarded rings until the vessels using them returned.

Hyperdrive rings tend to incorporate a class 2 drive, as well as extra fuel and other consumables which can extend a small ship's stock consumables by up to 1 week. Of note, hyperdrive rings are an enormous drag on maneuverability; when docked with one, a vessel's maneuverability rating automatically drops to "average". If the ship's rating was already average, it will drop to "sluggish". These penalties are removed when a ship un-docks from its hyperdrive ring. Also, as noted, the "parasite" craft using a hyperdrive ring must be equipped with its own navicomputer or astromech droid to provide hyperspace calculations.

No vessel larger than a starfighter or starhopper may use a hyperdrive ring.

LEGALITY​

Legal. Not being an offensive weapon, use of hyperdrive rings is unrestricted in most of the Galaxy.

INTENT​

To create a mobility upgrade for primarily antique starships.