Ship Systems

Power and Propulsion

Warp Power (Primary)

Primary power for the ship is provided by a matter-antimatter reactor core, also known as the warp core. Two streams of fuel, one consisting of hydrogen and the other of anti-hydrogen, are brought together in the primary reaction chamber. This results in a large amount of gamma rays and neutrinos being released, along with other secondary products. This energy is captured by the primary dilithium crystal and converted into a useful form, which is then used to energize warp plasma. The plasma is then channeled through a series of secondary reaction chambers to insure the fuel is fully reacted, and then fed out of the reactor. It then travels through the main EPS energizers, which provide power for the ship's electrical grid, and onward to the nacelles. Without the mains, the ship is unable to fully power itself, particularly energy-intensive systems like the shields and weapons.

The warp drive itself operates by generating a powerful subspace field, partly removing the ship from normal space-time and the constraints of relativity. Once the warp bubble is established, its layers are sequentially compressed or expanded, drawing the ship forward at faster-than-light speeds. Altering the shape of the field allows for maneuvering. The warp drive cannot operate without the main reactor due the energy requirements, although under extreme emergencies it can be used to rig for "nearly-as-fast-as-light" travel using just fusion power.

Impulse Power (Auxiliary)

Auxiliary power consists of two twin sets of fusion reactors, each powering a single impulse drive. The reactors can provide almost a quarter of the ship's total power, and can operate all day-to-day systems. Energized plasma is channeled either directly into the impulse drive or into the power grid through the secondary energizers.

The impulse drive is a form of reactionless thruster, similar in principle to the warp drive. While it does exhaust some fusion products, the ship does not carry enough reaction mass for the system to work as a fusion torch without exhausting its fuel in a matter of minutes. Most power is routed through a series of impulse manifolds, as well as the impulse field spine above the drive, to generate a positive-negative energy potential that the ship 'falls' into. The exhaust provides a small but overall minor boost.

Emergency Power

The ship has six sets of thrusters, each with a microfusion reactor, for maneuvering and reaction control. These provide a small amount of power. Most of the ship's emergency power comes from a system of capacitor banks, which help even out the flow of power through the ship, and battery backups. These can briefly power key systems. The final backup are two sets of radio-electric generators, which can provide life support power indefinitely.

Tactical Systems

Phasers

Phasers are a type of particle weapon. A type of gluon-like subatomic particle, known as a nadion, is transported along a phased energy carrier beam. At low levels, this produces electrical and heat effects. At high levels, it results in a cascade effect that breaks down the bonds between quarks in material, causing atoms to disassociate and partially phase out of normal space, an effect colloquially referred to as vaporization. Shipboard phasers are highly precise both in area of effect and amount of power delivered, which is why Starfleet prefers them over sturdier disruptor weapons. A starship can drill a hole through rock, stun a block of rioters, or blow apart a good-sized asteroid depending on the setting. Challenger is equipped with FP-11 ball turrets, arranged in six twin and six single mounts.

Photon Torpedoes

Photon torpedoes are the other type of ship-to-ship weapon used by Starfleet. Essentially a miniature, short-lived ship, a torpedo has a warp drive and an antimatter warhead. It has a higher brute-force capacity than a phaser, but is not as precise or configurable, and it particularly devastating against unshielded targets. A photon warhead is designed to maximize the amount of energy released by mixing matter and antimatter micro-rods inside a low-grade dilithium casing. Torpedoes can also deliver other types of payload, and the casing is also used for a number of probe types.

Torpedoes are shot using four launcher systems, arranged in fore and aft pairs. A launcher comprises an accelerator to get the casing clear of the ship, a subspace energizer coupling to charge the torpedo's shield and drive, and a reactant loader that fills the antimatter pod just before launch. The ship's four launchers have a ready rapid-fire magazine of four shots each, after which it typically takes twenty seconds to reload.

Deflector Shields

Deflector shields are the first line of defense against hostile action or dangerous conditions. When the shields are ‘raised,’ the grid emitters in the hull begin to generate a gravitic field, essentially bending space around the ship into a near discontinuity. This discontinuity can deflect most of the mass or energy directed at it, and absorbs the remainder. Should the shield be lowered or the local grid damaged, it becomes ‘down.’ As long as the shields are powered, they are ‘up,’ although their deflective potential can be overwhelmed or burned through by particularly powerful hits.

Related is the Navigational Deflector. It exerts force over a much longer distance, but with much less intensity. It pushes aside dust and micrometeoroids that might hit the hull. It also helps boost the long-range sensors ahead of the ship. Starfleet ships are famous for using their oversized deflectors to project various types of radiation and particles for scientific purposes.

Tractor Beam

A starship's primary method of physically manipulating objects around her. The tractor beam can apply differential forces both towards and away from the emitter array, making it possible to draw objects closer, push them away, and rotate them. The tractor beam is a relatively short-ranged device due to the difficulty of maintaining beam cohesion over range.