Hyperdrive Sled

[Star Wars Legacies]

HYPERDRIVE SLED

AFFILIATION
Free use.

MANUFACTURER
Various.

TYPE
Detachable hyperdrive system.POWER SUPPLY
Integrated fusion generator.

SENSORS

• Astrogational sensors.

SIZE
Varies.

COMPOSITION
Durasteel.

DESCRIPTION​

Hyperdrive sleds are devices which can be docked with by a starfighter or other small craft which is not equipped with an integrated hyperdrive, giving them the ability to travel through hyperspace. Simpler and theoretically more universally compatible than more ornate systems such as hyperdrive rings, hyperdrive sleds - often simply called "hypersleds" - are designed for a ship with extended landing gear to sit on top of, where they are secured using either mechanical clamps or magnetic adhesion. Unlike hyperdrive rings, hypersleds do not enclose the vessel that uses them, making them useful for ships with odd dimensions.

Hypersleds are equipped are equipped with sublight thrusters for maneuvering in realspace, a navicomputer for plotting hyperspace jumps, a slave circuit to enable control by attached ships and an extremely basic autopilot to prevent the sled from running into obstacles while the control ship is detached. The sled contains a hyperdrive, usually class 4, allowing vessels such as interceptor starfighters and other normally short-range craft to cross interstellar distances, although unlike hyperdrive rings they do nothing to augment the amount of consumables such ships carry.

Hypersleds have proven a popular option for owners of small, short-range spacecraft, although they cost almost as much as a low-end starship just by themselves. Integrated hyperdrives and being carried on a large vessel is generally seen as a better way for such ships to travel, of course; especially in combat situations, hypersleds have many drawback, not least of which being their vulnerability to attacking vessels once detached from the "parasite" craft; they possess only basic obstacle avoidance AI, inadequate against a concerted attack. Destruction of a hypersled may leave the pilot of the ship that arrived on it stranded in-system.

LEGALITY​

Legal. People need a way to find their way around, even if their ship can't go system-hopping on its own.

INTENT​

To create a less sophisticated version of the standard hyperdrive ring.

ADVANCED TECH​

Yes. Though not as advanced as hyperdrive rings, hypersleds are by no means common or easy to get, and a plot consisting of 1 or more threads would be required.