Phase Drive
The Phase Drive is a faster-than-light (FTL) propulsion system that enables travel through *phased space*—a resonant dimensional layer known in Prosian as Nilita’fen, or *the Flow of Light*. Unlike localized Transit Window gateways, the Phase Drive generates a self-contained **phase field envelope** that carries a ship across interstellar distances while remaining partially decoupled from normal spacetime.
The most advanced design in current use is the **Meras-type High-Frequency Phase Drive**, first installed aboard the Scavenger DX-1017 in *Story 1: The Phoenix from the Scrapyard*.
Overview
A Phase Drive does not propel a ship in the classical sense. Instead, it alters the vessel’s resonance relative to spacetime, allowing it to move within Nilita’fen where relativistic limits do not apply.
Within a phase field:
- External spacetime remains largely undisturbed
- Light behaves as a compressible medium
- Distance contracts relative to oscillation frequency
- Inertia is decoupled from classical acceleration
Motion is achieved through **controlled repulsion and field shaping**, not thrust.
The Meras Drive
The Meras Drive marked a generational leap beyond earlier Phase propulsion systems.
Prior to Annuli 3420, all Phase-capable vessels used so-called Proto-Phase Drives—experimental, unstable systems developed independently by multiple Alliance and Prosian engineering groups. These early drives could enter phased space but lacked consistent field control, suffered from severe Phase Drift accumulation, and posed significant risks to both crews and Phase-native lifeforms.
Dr. Meras did not invent Phase travel. His contribution was the development of a stable, repeatable architecture that separated **phase field generation** from **repulsive motion**, allowing controlled high-frequency operation without catastrophic resonance effects.
The first fully operational Meras-type Phase Drive entered Alliance service in Annuli 3420.
When Alliance testing was suspended following unexplained disappearances and Phase Being disturbances, one surviving core was decommissioned. It was later salvaged and rebuilt by Captain Elan Drex and his crew, becoming the foundation for modern, safe high-frequency phase travel.
Principle of Operation
A Meras Phase Drive consists of two primary functional assemblies:
1. Phase Field Cylinder (Forward Section)
The cylindrical forward section contains a lattice of **Relenium**, a composite alloy formed from several mid-rarity elements.
- Relenium interacts with:
* Interstellar gases * Exotic particles
- These interactions generate the **phase field envelope**
- The envelope decouples the ship from normal spacetime
Relenium **creates the phase state** but does not produce motion.
A vessel inside the envelope is no longer constrained by the speed of light outside the field.
2. Repulsion Sphere (Aft Section)
The rear section houses a large, glowing spherical core of **Relekorium**.
- Relekorium generates a **repulsive phase pressure**
- The field pushes against:
* Residual interstellar gases * Exotic particle gradients * Local gravitational wells
Movement is achieved by *repelling the ship forward through the phase medium*, not by pulling or accelerating.
A web of **copper navigation coils** surrounds the sphere, shaping field permeability and directing travel vectors through asymmetrical repulsion.
An **exit cone** mounted behind the sphere prevents standing waves, smooths particle flow, and significantly reduces residual instability.
Phase Drift
Phase Drift is a residual spatial instability created by repeated or concurrent Phase Drive usage within the same region of space.
Phase Drift is:
- Not propulsion
- Not a weapon
- Not a navigational shortcut
It is an *after-effect*.
Repeated excitation of exotic particles and interstellar gases leaves behind minor misalignments between normal spacetime and adjacent phase layers. While harmless to conventional vessels, Phase Drift degrades navigational precision and destabilizes future phase transitions.
Operational consequences include:
- Increased SNS recalculation requirements
- Mandatory cooldown windows for high-Z corridors
- Reduced tolerance for precision phase exits
> “Phase Drift isn’t movement—it’s the echo left behind when space has been pushed too hard, too often.”
Navigation and Control
Phase navigation relies on the Star Naming System (SNS), which maps verified safe corridors and exit vectors.
Navigation is achieved by:
- Shaping Relekorium permeability
- Biasing repulsion gradients
- Maintaining harmonic stability
On the Scavenger, the AI Sariel manages real-time harmonic correction and Phase Life Protection tuning.
Interaction with Phase Beings
High-frequency phase oscillations can interfere with **Phase Beings**, sentient entities native to Nilita’fen.
Dr. Meras introduced a **Phase Sentience Buffer (PSB)**—a combination of software and crystalline hardware that modulates the drive’s energy signature to coexist safely with these lifeforms.
Failure to maintain PSB calibration has been shown to:
- Distress Phase Beings
- Destabilize corridors
- Trigger severe phase turbulence
Fighter Doctrine and Phase Policy
Short-range craft such as **Aheiki fighters** do not carry Phase Drives.
Reasons include:
- Fighters operate within carrier-defined engagement volumes
- Phase Drives are mass- and power-intensive
- Multiple small phase transitions would amplify Phase Drift
- Conventional propulsion is more precise in stabilized space
The carrier moves the battlefield. Fighters operate *inside* it.
Materials
- **Relenium** – Enables phase envelope formation; mid-rarity composite alloy
- **Relekorium** – Produces repulsive phase pressure; interacts with gravity wells
- **Relekorium-G** – Variant used in gravity plating and inertial systems
Dangers and Limitations
- Resonance collapse
- Phase sickness
- Gravitational shear
- Phase Drift saturation
- Ethical violations of Phase Life Protection law
No Phase Drive may engage within 0.2 AU of a gravity well or within 10 million km of a populated world.
Nilita’fen (The Flow of Light)
Nilita’fen is a luminous, elastic domain where time and distance behave nonlinearly. Navigators often describe it as *“the sea between stars.”*
Variants
- Proto-Phase Drive
- Meras-Type Drive
- Deep-Range Array
- Tonan Phase Array (see Tonan Phase Weapon)