Hyperspace Drive

A Hyperdrive, also known as a Hyperspace engine, is an old FTL propulsion mechanism used mostly by Alpha Quadrant powers i.e. the Gigerdians, when they were young. Hyperdrive allows starships to breach the tachyon boundary enter the parallel dimension in our space-time continuum known as hyperspace, in turn allowing them to travel faster than the speed of light.

Traveling in hyperspace can be quite dangerous - objects in our universe, or realspace, produce mass shadows in hyperspace. Any ship striking a mass shadow in hyperspace is instantly destroyed. Starships have navigational nav computers (also nicknamed navicomputers) to calculate safe travel routes through hyperspace, taking the ship around stars, planets, stray asteroids, and other stellar hazards. Once a ship has entered hyperspace, it cannot change course. Hyperdrives are rated by classes; the lower the class, the faster the hyperdrive.

Today, hyperdrive vessels are quite rare and can only be found on the oldest of starships. They are considered ineffective due to the mass shadow problem and the need for excessive computing power and navigational reference points; they could also be countered using Gravity-Well Generators, adding another layer of vulnerability.