Systems

Ablative Armor

Ablative armor was originally developed for the USS Defiant; the Borg had proven their ability to penetrate Federation shields with
ease during their encounter with the Enterprise at system J-25, and the Defiant designers wanted the ship to have a degree of
protection even if the shields should be overcome in the expected future encounters.

The Primary hull is shielded by a secondary armor consisting of small neutronium plates. If one of these plates is hit it is
destroyed and falls away from the armor plating. By this the primary hull stays intact and the energy of the hit is absorbed by the
armor whilst the armor plates behind the destroyed one stays intact. This allows the ship in question to survive massive weapons
fire.

The value of the armour was proven when the Defiant came up against Dominion forces. Like the Borg, the Dominion were able to
penetrate Federation shielding systems relatively easily in the first years of hostility between the two powers, and the Defiant's
ablative armor allowed the ship to withstand attacks that would have otherwise caused significant damage.

Recently there has been a massive revolution in this technology with the appearance of the ablative armour generator. This device
was given to the crew of the USS Voyager by a future version of Admiral Janeway, who travelled back in time to the ship in order
to assist them in returning home from the Delta Quadrant. The generator involves a series of devices placed onto the hull of a
vessel; when activated these replicate a layer of armor over the surface of the ship. The effectiveness of armour is considerable.
The system Voyager employed was able to withstand a simultaneous attack by several Borg cubes. One of the most useful
features of this system is that as it can be materialised and dematerialised as needed, even weapons systems can be covered
over when they are not actually in use. This gives a much greater degree of coverage than any standard armour protection which
must leave permanent apetures to operate such systems through.

At time of writing Starfleet had had relatively little time to asses this technology, but the ease with which it was adapted for use on
Voyager without spacedock or any outside support indicates that it should be reasonably easy for the remainder of Starfleet's
ships to create ablative armor generators for themselves. This should multiply the hull strength of the fleet massively at a single
stroke.

The new systems uses several small generators that work using technology used by transporters and replicators. When the
generator is engaged, armor is 'replicated' and 'transported' over the hull. When hit, nanites work to repair the damage, making the
armor auto-regenerative. The armor itself has also been improved. It's thicker then the original and a section can typically take up
to numerous direct hits before evaporating (nanites are unable to repair it), exposing the hull. Current AA is still applied to the ship,
this new AA is an additional system.

Limitations include:

Phasers don't work as arrays are covered

Shields don't work while armor is engaged, and vice versa because of power needed and shield emitters are covered by armor
when it's engaged

Can't transport in or off the ship

Warp speed is reduced by 10% because of power needed for the ablative emitters

Cloaks don't work while armor is engaged

Sensor power and range is reduced by 20% because the armor covers sensor arrays

Artificial Gravity Devices

The crew of a starship is free to move about their ship without the problems of weightlessness because of a network of small
generators working together to provide the proper sense of "down". The gravity field itself is created by a controlled stream of
gravitons, using the same principles as the ship's tractor beams. Power is channeled into a hollow cylinder of Anicum Titanide
454, where a super conducting rotor of Thoronium Arkenide is suspended in a pressurized Chrylon gas. Once set into motion, the
rotor generates a graviton field gentle enough to simulate the gravitational pull of a standard M-Class planet. Requiring only
occasional energy, the rotor can continue to provide an gravity field for up to 4 hours after a power loss.

Atmospheric System

Part of the life support systems that provides breathable air and comfortable temperature and humidity on a starship. Class-M
atmosphere is the standard setting on Federation starships, implying 26°C temperature, 45% relative humidity and 101kPa air
pressure with a composition of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% trace gases. Part of the starship volume can be switched to
other environmental conditions. Oxygen is produced by photosynthetic processing of CO2.

Cloaking Device

A Basic Introduction
A cloaking device uses a combination of gravitational lensing and energy screen generation to render an object invisible (to the eye
and most sensor systems). The gravitational lensing creates a distorted image of an object as light reflecting from the object is
bent by gravity. In the case of cloaking devices, the light is focused so that the object's index of refraction(phase velocity of
radiation in a vacuum divided by the phase velocity of the same type of radiation in a specified medium) matches that of it's
surroundings, making the object transparent. To fully cloak a ship you must do the following things:

Balance the emissions from the ship's warp nacelles
Dissipate all electromagnetic radiation emanating from the ship
Hide or distort the ship's gravitational field
Distort space so that all EM and energy emissions are directed around the ship through
subspace FTL

Balance the emissions from the ship's warp nacelles
Off-axis warp field controllers are used to balance the emissions from the warp drive. This is necessary because the power source
must be operating in phase with the cloaking device to ensure that no detectable emissions escape. Off-axis warp field controllers
are also use don warp capable ships without cloaking devices, as they also increase the efficiency of the warp drive.
If any of these controllers are misaligned or damaged then the warp drive would produce a polarised magnetic distortion which
would be easily detected by the sensors of another starship. If the ship was travelling at warp, the fact that the ship is moving so
quickly makes it difficult to pin-point the location of a ship, even one of it's warp field controllers was misaligned.

Dissipating All EM Emissions From The Ship
The nullifier cores dissipate all of the electromagnetic radiation and any others energy emissions produced by the ship and it's
crew. This is done by remodulating the energy signature to have the appearance of background radiation and reducing the
apparent output. Providing shielding against the entire electromagnetic spectrum is energy costly, but necessary if another ship is
in close proximity. If a ship isn't within the immediate vicinity then the nullifier cores only dissipate EM frequencies detectable on
long-range scanners. Cloaking systems Mk 3 to Mk 3.2 require the space craft to have a green coloration, because of problems
with spurious thermal emisions trapped inside the cloaking field. The nullifier cores also mask the ship's gravitational field.

Hide or distort the ship's gravitational field
Cloaking generator coils use a coherent graviton emission to distort space so that incident electromagnetic radiation and other
forms of energy are directed around the ship through subspace at velocities faster than light, making the appearance that the light
or energy never left it's original course.

Distort space so that all EM and energy emissions are directed around the ship through subspace FTL
One of the main parts of a cloaking generator coil is a graviton polarity source generator. Graviton polarity source generators create
a highly focused spatial distortion which directs the course of the energy and light. The graviton polarity sources in each generator
feed into subspace field distortion amplifiers that are phase-synchronised with each other by a network of small conduits that allow
field bleed for gravitational stability between the graviton polarity sources. These conduits are equipped with tetryon compositors,
to prevent a build-up of tetryons in the conduits, which would decrease the operating efficiency and eventually significantly damage
the subspace field distortion amplifiers. The flux energy output is directed and focused by a series of subspace field generator coils,
according to the energy dispersal pattern. The energy dispersal pattern, or the energy transformational matrix, is the way in which
the energy and light is directed around the ship. The actual subspace field generator coils are similar to warp field coils, but they
create a multi-layered field in the space around the ship, not also within it. The propulsive, asymmetrical, peristaltic field distortion
propels the energy faster than light. This compensates for the extra distance that the energy has to travel around the ship before
returning to it's original course, and any redshift or blueshift caused by the Doppler effect, or a gravitational field.

The cloaking generator coils are controlled by special purpose, or dedicated, computers designed to perform this specific task.
They are extremely fast computers that contain a complex arrays of processors each designed to perform a specific function.
These computers must handle huge databases, and perform complex mathematical operations in order to provide an accurate
energy dispersal pattern. Input data is provided for the computers by a network of refractometers placed on the hull of the ship. The
more refractometers placed on the hull of the ship, the more effective the energy dispersal pattern. The only limiting factor is the
speed of the computers, which must provide a real-time energy dispersal pattern to effectively cloak the ship. These computer are
completely separate from the computers that perform other ship functions, because they are limited to the specific function built
into them. These computers are only required on fine tuned cloaking devices, Mk 3.2 and higher.

Magnetic constriction coils create a localised magnetic waveguide plane for the energy to pass through in subspace, which
ensures proper alignment of the energy when the ship is in warp. If a ship was using the magnetic constriction coils while not in
warp, an active magnetic interferometry scanner could detect the use of the coils.

All of the parts of the cloaking generator coils are powered by plasma coils. These coils must all have an identical energy
frequency. This is accomplished by a plasma buffer. If there is no plasma buffer, then the cloaking generator coils could easily be
disrupted, by something like an ionic pulse.

Types Of Cloaking Field
There are many forms of energy dispersal patterns, some more energy efficient or more anti-detection effective than others. The
energy dispersal pattern for a ship must be very carefully calculated. There are generally two classifications of energy dispersal
patterns: spherical cloaking, and wavemapped cloaking. On the spherical cloaking mode the cloak is generated at a constant
distance from the centre of the graviton polarity source generators. However, as the gravitational effect is less significant, the
shape of the field becomes more elliptical, i.e., less spherical. This distance is controllable up to a point, when the power system
of the ship the can no longer support a field of that size, and the cloak chaotically collapses, causing powerful gravitational waves.
This setting is intended for use during warp travel, whereby the cloak surrounds the warp fields and effectively cloaks it also. The
spherical cloaking mode produces a noticeable distortion of visible light with some energy dispersal patterns. This is because the
field behaves as a lens, focusing light in places and diffusing it in others. This is especially noticeable as the cloak engages and
disengages. On the wavemapped cloaking mode the cloak is generated at a constant distance from the surface of the ship. It is
possible to create an energy dispersal pattern, on a very well tuned vessel, less than thirteen millimeters from the hull by emitting
the cloaking field from a series of conformal transmission assemblies on the hull which are connected to the cloaking generator
coils. Constant computer monitoring is required at this level, and cannot be performed at warp. Wavemapped cloaking cannot be
instantly engaged or disengaged, because of the complexity of the field geometry. The cloak is carefully powered down to avoid
damaging the cloaking device. In an atmosphere, gas will get trapped inside the cloak if wavemapped. This will cause sound
vibrating between the hull and cloaking field, making an audible noise.

Detection Systems
Subspace listening posts, gravatic sensor nets and tachyon heterodyne detection grids can be used to track cloaked ships.
Subspace listening posts are designed to listen for any subspace radio, subspace field distortions (these indicate the presence of
a warp drive), any subspace compression (a possible warp drive error), or subspace shock waves small enough to be
undetectable by standard sensor arrays (these indicate a spontaneous warp field collapse.) Subspace relay stations, which boost
subspace radio transmissions, can be converted to subspace listening posts without much difficulty.

Gravatic sensor nets are a network of detection devices that are partially effective in detecting cloaked ships. Gravatic sensor nets
utilise highly sensitive gravimetric distortion mapping scanners to map the gravitational forces throughout the area in which it would
be probable that a cloaked ship would pass. If a cloaked ship's nullifier cores were not creating a complete area of null gravity
around the ship, then it would be possible to observe the changes in the space around the ship.

Tachyon heterodyne detection grids are a network of active tachyon beams used to detect cloaked ships passing through the net.
Tachyon heterodynes are charged tachyons having alternating currents of two different frequencies that are combined to generate
a new frequency equal to the sum or difference of the two.

Disadvantages
As a cloak engages and disengages, a momentary gravitational wave forms from the graviton polarity sources, while the subspace
field distortion amplifiers phase-synchronise with each other. (Gravitational waves also called gravitational radiation or spatial
ripples.) A gravitational wave is a ripple in the curvature of space-time In other words, it is a propagating gravitational field, or
propagating pattern of strain, travelling at the speed of light. It carries energy and can exert forces on matter in its path, producing,
for instance, very small vibrations in elastic bodies. As the ripple forms, the ships inertial damping system will attempt to respond.
But because, on average, the inertial damping system lags 295 milliseconds to respond, there is a slight strain of the physical
spaceframe of the craft. If the ripple is fairly limited, no considerable effect will result, but, should the ripple be large, the systems
will fail to adequately compensate and the ripple can cause a significant effect on the ship and crew. This distortion, although the
relatively weak interaction between gravitational radiation and matter, can create an effect similar to that of spatial interphase,
which alters the neural pathways in the brain, effectively rendering any humanoids exposed to the spatial radiation insane, or
worse. Statistically, on a Mk 3.2a cloaking device, a ripple large enough that it cannot be adequately compensated for, should
occur some 0.00007854% (39,271/50,000,000,000) of the time. A build-up of tetryons in the conduits that allow field bleed between
the graviton polarity sources will significantly increase the chance of a spatial ripple occurring. A neural disturbance should occur
approximately 0.0000001386% of the time, with a 0.000000000341% (341/100,000,000,000,000 ) chance of complete structural
failure due to spatial ripple stress.

In addition to the production of gravitational waves, cloaking devices have several other significant disadvantages. The greatest
disadvantage is the tremendous amount of energy required to maintain all of the parts of the cloaking device.
If a ship had the ability to generate enough energy to maintain the cloaking device as well as defensive shields, the nullifier cores
could neither mask all of the energy required to accomplish this, nor the interference created by defensive shields. In addition, the
spatial distortions created by defensive shields would mean that the shield itself would have to exist within the cloaking field, and
the larger the cloaking field is, the more energy is required to generate it. These reasons completely eliminate the possibility of
using defensive shields.

When a starship's cloaking device is active, several ship's systems operate under special protocols to minimise the interference of
the cloaking device. If the cloaking generator coils distorted space so that all incident electromagnetic radiation and other forms of
energy were directed around the ship, then the sensor systems could not gather any data. As a result, the cloaking generator coils
create frequency windows to allow specific wavelengths to pass through the cloaking field at certain times. This limits the gathering
of many types of scientific and tactical data, but is adequate for most situations. Active scanners may not be used while the
cloaking device is operating.

Although the transporter system could be tuned to the same frequency as the cloaking device, the gravitational distortions usually
prevent usage of the transporter system.

Phased energy weapons make use of the rapid nadion effect. This is very disruptive to the cloaking device's plasma coils, even
with a plasma buffer, and therefore cannot be used. If a cloaked ship did use their phasers, the beam would be bent off course and
hit the ship at a diametric point and angle. In addition, the nullifier cores would attempt to dissipate the phaser beam and
remodulate its energy signature to give the appearance of background emissions. The cloaking field would most likely collapse,
causing powerful gravitational waves. However, it is possible for a phaser to penetrate the cloak from the outside if it is tuned to the
frequency of a window opened in the cloak for sensory input.

Warp drive operation is considerably affected by the cloaking device. The geometry of the warp field must be significantly altered
because of the spatial distortions created by the cloaking device. Warp drive control software works in parallel with the cloaking
generator coil's dedicated computer to minimise the effect on both systems. The translational field interaction between the
cloaking device and the warp drive is somewhat chaotic, creating potentially catastrophic effects. Such as a spontaneous field
collapse of the warp field or subspace compression. This is why subspace listening posts are an efficient way of tracking cloaked
ships.

It is possible to open an interference window in a finely tuned cloak, so that a photon torpedo will pass through, as opposed to
being bent off course or even crushed by the gravitational distortion. This interference window is generated by, at the moment of
firing, a cloaking generator coil to operate on a different frequency than the other cloaking generator coils. This is accomplished by
temporarily disconnecting the plasma coil powering the cloaking generator coil for the area where the torpedo will leave the
cloaking field from the plasma buffer. The translational field interaction between the cloaking generator coils causes a gap to open
in the cloak. The calculations that are necessary to allow the ship to properly cloak after the launch of the torpedo are very
complex. As a result, there is a lag in firing, the length of which depends on the speed of the cloaking generator coil's dedicated
computer.

Because the navigational deflector dish radiates significant amounts of both subspace and electromagnetic radiation, it cannot be
used when cloaked without an extremely powerful network of nullifier cores, which would consume a considerable amount of
energy. Instead of this, a variant of the transporter system is used. This device converts the micrometeorite particulates to energy,
lets the energy be directed around the ship as with all of the other light and energy, and then converts the energy back to matter.
This method is only used when a ship is in very close proximity. Otherwise the magnetic constriction coils are tuned with the
cloaking generator coils to reflect interstellar gases and micrometeoroid particulates. This method is more energy efficient than the
method using a variant of the transporter system.

A Romulan Warbird decloaking

Molecular Phase Inversion
A molecular phase inverter is a device that could alter the molecular structure of matter so it could pass through normal matter
and energy at certain angles. The angles that phased matter can pass through normal matter and energy at are determined by the
matter's quantum state. Theoretically, if quantum mechanical subatomic particles were phased, they could pass through normal
matter at every possible angle. In this case, there would be absolutely no source of drag or resistance. The inertia of a body could
carry it on the same course at the same velocity as when it was phased until the body was dephased.

An interphase generator is a molecular phase inverter combined with a cloaking device. Matter exposed to this interphase
generator would partially exist on a parallel spatial plane (similar to that of subspace) and would therefore be undetectable to any
known sensing device. This is similar to coplanar spatial interphase, a time-space phenomenon in which two or more dimensions
overlap and connect. Matter so cloaked can pass through normal matter, with the same limitations previously discussed. When
phased matter passes through normal matter chroniton particles are formed. A modified anyon emitter can clear chroniton
particles and when set to a sufficient strength, dephase phased matter.

Cloaking Device Classification
Mk 1 Cloak: Original usage, early Warbirds only. Used electromagnetic radiation shielding quite effectively to cloak only visible and
near-visible radiation. Can instantaneously cloak and decloak, but required large amounts of power.

Mk 2 Cloak: A major improvement on the Mk 1, this device cloaked all electromagnetic radiation, except high energy Gamma
rays. Can instantaneously cloak and decloak, but was remarkably inefficient. Craft: Romulan Scouts and Warbirds, also Klingon
D-7 Cruisers, and later the joint Romulan/Klingon scout and Bird Of Prey.

Mk 3.0 Cloak: The first gravity distorting cloak. The early prototype craft had problems with energetic effects occurring inside the
cloak as a result of trapped spurious thermal emissions within the cloaking field. This was overcome by giving the craft a green
coloration. This tuned the thermal energy to a frequency where it could leak very slowly through the cloak without revealing the
ships presence, still common practice on most cloaked vessels. This early Mk 3 had only the spherical field setting and could not
be effectively wavemapped. It could not instantly cloak and decloak, but saw much use on most Romulan craft and the Bird Of
Prey.

Mk 3.1 Cloak: This improved device featured instantaneous propagation of the spherical cloak, and first saw use of the
wavemapped cloak. It is reported to have been used as above and as an upgraded cloak for D-7 Cruisers. A green coloration was
still necessary.

Mk 3.2 Cloak: This version saw the creation of the fine tuned cloak, using the special dedicated computers. This device was
perhaps first created by the Klingons, but required large power reserves. The Romulans later reworked the idea into a more
efficient form (officially designated the Mark 3.2a). The old cloak is still in active service on older Klingon craft.

Mk 3.2a Cloak: Romulan reworking of the 3.2. No special coloration of the craft is necessary, although the nullifier cores require
less energy when the ship has a green colour. The cloak is still extensively used by Romulans and Klingons alike.

Mk 3.3 Cloak: This latest version allowed powering down of all non-finely tuned cloaks instantly. It is only fitted, as far as is known,
to Romulan Warbirds. Klingons claim to still use the 3.2a.

Experimental Mk 4 Cloak: There is an experimental cloaking device which utilises a highly-wavemapped, adaptive, asymmetrical
dispersion pattern. This cloaking device's cloaking generator coils are equipped with field actuators that change the dispersion
pattern, to be most efficient in any interstellar condition, considering many variables, such as gas density, electric and magnetic
fields, and fluctuations in the subspace domain. These field actuators compensate for any of these variables or active scans if the
vicinity of the cloaked ship is being probed. There is no danger of a spatial ripple occurring. This would render a ship undetectable,
except with a tachyon heterodyne detection grids, which, if powerful enough, could detect a ship that was cloaked in this manner.

History
On Stardate 1709.1 the Bonhomme Ri left Romulan Space. Suddenly, it vanished from the sensors, reappeared directly in front of
the outpost and fired what later came to be called a "plasma torpedo". The torpedo obliterated the outpost's deflector screens,
nearly destroying it. A second shot finished the intruder's job. Then the ship simply disappeared from view.
That was the first encounter with the Romulans after almost a century since the battle of Cheron. The vessel that destroyed S-4023
(and also S-4024 and S-4025) was a Romulan P-1A Bird of Prey with a first generation cloaking device.
Later, a third generation cloaking device has been obtained by the U.S.S. Enterprise in an espionage mission.
The Klingons gained the technology from their alliance with the Romulans in exchange for their D-6 Raxor and D-7 Klolode battle
cruisers. Thus the three major powers in this part of the galaxy came to posses what proved to be one of the most formidable
weapons ever.
Starfleet, which used the cloaking device on its vessels in the late 2200's and early 2300's, has decided that the peaceful (mostly)
mission definition of the Explorer type of starships precludes its use. Further- more, the overall shape and hull materials used in
the Galaxy, Ambassador, and Oberth class starships would interfere with the cloaking device. Although it is still possible to cloak
them, the energy necessary increases beyond reasonable limit. Today, only specialised scouting, stealth, and battle ships use
cloaking devices.
The Klingon Empire has used the cloaking technology ever since their technology exchange with the Romulans in 2263, and
continues to do so. Nearly all of its Bird of Prey type ships are equipped with it as are the D- 6, D-7, D-8 (K'T'Inga), and the new
Negh'var class battle cruisers.
The Romulan Empire naturally still uses the cloaking device. Although much about them is now unknown due to the fifty-year
contact breach after the Tomad incident, it is certain that their D'Deridex class warbirds, are equipped with a new generation of
cloaking devices which have so far defied all Federation attempts at detection without the use of tachyons. The events surrounding
the Khitomer conference, classified until recently, have brought to attention the fact that one of the main disadvantages of the
cloaking device, the inability to fire a photon torpedo, has been nullified by the renegade Klingon vessel Dakronh. Although it was
destroyed, and it's schematics have not survived, it appears that the cloaking device would be useless today due to the vast
improvement of sensor devices used by Star Fleet. The vessel was designed reduce the cloaking power shortly before firing, just
enough to fire a specially designed high-velocity photon torpedo thorough it. However, this resulted in a momentary emission of
radiation from the ship and the leak of impulse engine products (plasma) through the cloak. The vessel was destroyed by homing
a photon torpedo on those plasma traces. The momentary radiation burst from the ship as the cloaking power was reduced was
too small to be detectable by the instruments of that era, but would be sufficient to pinpoint the ship's location today.

Communications

Starfleet Subspace Tranceiver Assembly
The Standard Starfleet Subspace Transciever is an octagonal decive, measuring 1.33m around the side and 0.56m in thickness.
The device is triply redundant and contains the following:
Voice and data processors.
EPS power conditioners.
Subspace field coils.
Optronically steerable focusing array.

Starfleet RF Unit
The Standard Starfleet RF units are hexagonal devices, measuring 1.1m across the faces and 0.23m in depth. The RF unit can
only transmit data at light-speed. The range is variable with the amount of power fed to the device.

Subspace Relay Platforms
Subspace relay stations are used to stop signal degradation, and allow long distance messages to be sent across space. To the
left is a diagram of a Federation Subspace Relay Platform. These stations are placed at 20 light year intervals, as subspace
messages can only travel about 22.65 light years without "boosting". About 500 new relay platforms are placed each year, due to
exploration.

Computers

The Computer system aboard a modern starship is roughly analogous to the Central nervous system of a mammal.
It serves to coordinate and control all of the ship's subsystems. Modern computer equipment allows nearly every function
of the ship to be automated. Thus greatly reducing the number of personnel needed for the sole purpose of running the ship.

The computer system is comprised of several subsystems.

1. Main Computer Core
If the computer system of a starship were compared to the nervous system of an animal, then the Main Computer Core would
definitely be the Brain. The MCC is the primary computation and data storage device aboard the ship. It is responsible for
Shipboard computational tasks such as diagnostic routines, pattern recognition, and data analysis. It is also largely responsible
for monitoring and controlling automated systems such as propulsion, navigation, weapon control, and turbolifts.

Main Computer Core layout

A. Primary Data Storage
This is the upper-most segment. This is where the most frequently used data is stored (think ram). The data is stored on
Isolinear Optical Chips arranged in 64 arrays of 144 chips each. Two subspace field generators are oriented in diametrically
opposed positions to create a symmetric (non propulsive) warp field. They produce a total field distortion of 5.7 milichocranes,
thus allowing the isolinear chips to access data at speeds 3 times faster than light.

Various Isolinear chips

B. Central Processing Unit
This is the middle segment. This is where all of the number crunching is done. In physical arrangement, it is identical to
Primary Data Storage, with the notable exception that all of the Isolinear chips are replaced by Faster Than Light (FTL)
Processor Elements. FTL Processor Elements can also operate at sub light speeds if the subspace field generators fail, but
this will significantly reduce overall efficiency.

C. Archival Data Storage
This is the lower-most segment . This segment is devoted to long-term data storage (think hard drive). Once again the physical
layout of this Segment closely mimics that of Primary Data Storage. The notable exception in this case is that the subspace field
generators were omitted in order to accommodate 64 additional arrays of 144 chips, thereby doubling the storage capacity of this
segment at the cost of tripling access time. This was deemed an acceptable trade-off given the nature of this segment.

2. Command Sub-Processors (CSP)
The Function of a CSP is to alleviate The MCC of the computational Over-head associated with user interface operations. The CSP
accomplishes voice command recognition, speech synthesis, and Dynamic interface generation. There are five CSPs: Dorsal,
Ventral, Port, Starboard, and Aft arrayed in a fail-over redundancy system. Each CSP is responsible for user interface operations
within a certain section of the ship. In the event that a CSP fails, or its workload exceeds it's capacity, the remaining CSPs will
divide the unprocessed workload. With the exception of the Dorsal CSP, each remaining CSP will assume an equal portion of the
unprocessed workload. The Dorsal CSP is devoted to servicing the Bridge and main engineering, and will accept no additional
workload, until all other CSPs have either failed or reached capacity. The ship can function at 100% efficiency with complete failure
of up to two CSPs. Each CSP contains a dedicated ODN relay.

3. Optical Data Network
If we return to our nervous system analogy, the ODN corresponds to the Spinal cord, and other nerves in the nervous system. The
function of the ODN is to convey data and commands between the various elements of the computer system. The ODN is formed
from two types of sub-elements.

A. ODN Relay
Often referred to as 'data relays', these devices perform the all-important task of prioritizing and directing data and commands
through the entire ODN. Because of the expansive nature of the ODN as a whole, and the large number of possible routes for data
to travel between any two points on the network, ODN relays are one of the prime applications for Bio-Neural Circuitry. The ability
of this technology to employ 'fuzzy logic' has greatly improved ODN optimization among the Nova class through more accurate
prioritization, and better routing of ODN traffic.

Bioneural Gelpack

B. ODN Conduits
These are bundles of by-polymer filaments, specially selected for high tensile strength and refractive index (a desired quality for
optical fibers). ODN conduits connect nearly every element of the computer system, and because they are incredibly easy to
replicate, they are used very liberally throughout the ship.

C. Shielded ODN Conduits
In addition to the standard network of conduits, shielded ODN conduits form backup connections between key systems. A shielded
conduit consists of the standard by-polymer filament bundle encased in a ten-millimeter thick tritanium housing. Because the
tritanium housing is ridged and requires more resources to create, these conduits are only used for primary systems such as the
main computer core, shields, the bridge, and so forth.

4. Library Computer Acces And Retrieval System (LCARS)
This is the Starfleet standard issue Operation system. LCARS is known for its superior user interface features including Dynamic
Interface Generation and Tactile, Visual, and Audio interface options.

the construction of the lcars control surface

A. Dynamic Interface Generation
LCARS is a situation-based event driven OS. It keeps track of stored user and situation profiles, and presents a dynamic interface
tailored to the user and the situation. For example, the Navigational Controls will nearly always be the most prominent feature
available to the helm officer, where as the weapons controls will increase in prominence on the Captain and tactical officers'
displays when the ship is in a battle situation, or recede back into the background during peaceful activities.

B. Tactile, Visual and Audio Interface options
LCARS is one of the most accommodating OSs available in regards to the sensory capabilities of its users. It is capable of
generation a complete interface based solely upon any one of these options, or incorporate any combination. The default
interface includes the full functionality of all three senses, however, most humanoids quickly customize their personal
interface to omit tactile feedback as some tactile display elements can be quite uncomfortable (things like extremes in
temperature, pinprick sensations, and slimy texturing).

LCARS Interface

Electro Plasma System

Otherwise known as EPS, the power distribution network used aboard Federation starships. Plasma is diverted throughout the
ship to supply the warp drive and other systems such as SIF, life support, computers, shields or weapons.

Escape pods

Small vessel that is released from a starship in case of an extreme emergency, also referred to as lifeboat. All recent Federation
starships are equipped with escape pods. Escape pods are equipped with RCS propulsion only.

The nature of its missions in the galaxy requires that Starfleet vessels carry a small spacecraft for dedicated escape and rescue
operations. Located throughout the starship, these ejectable lifeboats are designed to meet the short term survival needs of the
starship crew in the event of a catastrophic emergency.

The first group of ASRVs were delivered in 2337 in time to be fitted to the last Renaissance class starship, the USS Hokkaido,
and with minimal hardware and software changes were chosen as the lifeboats for the Galaxy class. Automated facilities on the
Earth, Mars, Rigel IV, and Starbase 326 produced 85 per cent of the ASRVs, with satellite facilities on Velikan V Rangifer II acting
as the industry second sources of the remaining 15 per cent.

The ASRV measures 3x3x3 m and its shape is characterised as a truncated cube. The total mass is 1.35 metric tonnes. It's
internal space frame is a standard beam and stringer arrangement, constructed from gamma-welded tritanium and frumium
monocarbonite. The frame is skinned with single crystal micro-filleted tritanium with umbilical passthroughs, conformal emitters,
and sensors doped withhafnium cobarate for passive thermal control during atmosphere entry. Propulsion is available from three
different systems. The ejector initiator is a single pulse, buffered microfusion device that propels the lifeboat through the launch
channel. Power is tapped from the fusion reaction to start the lifeboats inertial dampening field and gravity generator. The main
impulse engine, a low-power microfusion system for all primary spacecraft maneouvering, is rated at a maximum thrust of 9500
Newtons and is fed from a 75kg deuterium fuel suply. The reaction control system provides precise attitude control in space, and
maneuvering during planetary landing.

Life support on the ASRV is maintained by its automated environmental system, providing complete atmospheric composition,
pressure, humidity and temperature control. Stored food and water supplies as well as a waste management system are included .
Lightweight environmental suits are stowed with portable survival packs for planetary operations. The normal capacity of a lifeboat
is four, although provisions are provided for as many as six. One important feature of the ASRV design, the inline docking hatches,
allow it to dock with other lifeboats to form large clusters. This capability, nicknamed "gaggle-mode", dramatically increases
in-space survival rates by allowing acess to wounded crew members by medical personnel, combining consumables supplies, and
adding propulsion options. Gaggle mode must be terminated before atmospheric entry, as the structural loads cannot be handled
by the combined craft. Out of the four hundred lifeboats on the Galaxy class, eighty are specialised with two additional docking
ports to increase the packing density and structural integrity of the gaggle. Crucial to the recovery of lifeboats are the subspace
communications system and automatic distress beacons.

Escape pods used onboard Sovereign Class Vessels

Escape pods do not offer a good chance to survive, in particular during a battle. So evacuation is the last option in case the ship
is out of control.

Forcefields

Forcefield technology is one of the most massively useful technological advances ever made. Initially prophesied by science fiction
in the early 20th century, this is one of those technologies which has developed along almost lines almost identical to those
forecast by those early "imagineers". The first forcefield technologies were developed during the mid 20th century by the team
working under Doctor Cochrane as part of the warp flight project. Since these early pioneering days, forcefield technology has
diversified to the point where there are literally thousands of different types of field, each with properties carefully designed to fulfill a
specific range of functions. Below is a listing of some of the more common types of forcefield currently in use.

1. Inertial Dampening Field
The Inertial Damping field is one of several types of forcefield which makes space flight practical. Essentially, a modern inertial
damping system is a network of variable symmetry force fields which serve to absorb the inertial forces involved in space flight;
even interplanetary craft routinely accelerate at hundreds of gees, and without this protection a person within such a ship would
experience an apparent weight equivalent to many tons. Most damping systems operate under the direct control of the ships
main computer systems, which allow it to anticipate the forces which will result from use of the engines. The degree of fine
control which this allows is such that it is virtually impossible to tell from within that a vessel is accelerating at all, let alone to
feel any discomfort. However, when the forces on a vessel are generated by an external source - such as weapons fire for
example - it is a slightly different story. In this case the system can only react rather than anticipate, and this leads to a small
lag between the action and reaction. This is manifested by a certain leakage through the IDF field, resulting in a noticeable
effect on the passengers. Ensuring that this effect remains within safe limits is one of the primary concerns of all Starship
designers.

2. Structural Integrity Field
The mechanical integrity of the physical spaceframe is augmented by the structural integrity field (SIF) system. The SIF is a
system of force-field generators that compensate for propulsive and other strains on the spaceframe that would otherwise cause
the spaceframe to fracture or buckle. The SIF applies forcefield energy directly to elements within the spaceframe that are able to
conduct the field energy, thereby increasing the load bearing capacity of the spaceframe. The SIF is provided by clusters of
graviton polarity sources, standard sources have an output of 12MW. These sources feed 250 millicocrhane subspace field
distortion amplifiers. The generator is cooled by liquid helium coolant loops, heat energy is dissipated at a rate of 300,000
megajoules per hour (MJ/hr). As standard, Starfleet vessels have backup SIF generators, providing up to 12hrs service at 55%
maximum rated power. Generators have a duty cycle of 36 hrs for maintenance. Graviton polarity sources are rated for 1,500 hrs
between routine servicing of superconductive elements. The energy produced by these generators is directed via a network of
molybdenum jacketed tri-phase waveguides which distribute the energy throughout the spaceframe. SIF conductive elements are
incorporated into all major structral assemblies. When energized by the SIF, the load-bearing capacity of these conductive
elements is increased by up to 125,000%. The SIF also provides re-inforcement to the external 'skin' of the vehicle. The Structural
Integrity Field of Starfleet vessels can also serve as a secondary backup to the ships main shielding system if required; when run
at above normal capacity the system is capable of protecting a vessel from even multiple direct hits by heavy weapons. This
makes the SIF a key component in the protection of a starship.

3. Shields
The shield system provides the modern Starship with its principle protection against both violent natural phenomena and enemy
weapons fire. Most shield systems are composed of highly focused spatial distortions which contain an energetic graviton field.
The shield itself is projected by a set of transmission networks located on the hull of the ship; when matter or energy strikes the
shield, field energy is concentrated at that point to create an intense localized spatial distortion.

The shape of the field can be varied at the discretion of the tactical officer - the most common configuration is a set of curved
fields which interlock to form a large bubble over vessel, although some users prefer to make the shields closely match the ships
hull. In the former case shield burn-throughs are more likely, as the shield must enclose a somewhat greater volume. However,
in the latter case those burn-throughs which do occur are much more damaging as they are directly adjacent to the hull. Most
of the information on this subject is highly classified, but since even individual vessels are known to utilize both configurations,
it appears that bubble shields are preferred under certain tactical situations, conformal shields under others.

Shields are carefully tuned to create windows which allow matter and energy to pass through under certain specific
circumstances - for example, visible light below a certain intensity is allowed to pass through unhindered. This allows the crew
of a vessel to see out whilst the shields are up - or more importantly, to use visible light sensor systems. This window renders
the shields invisible to the naked eye under normal circumstances. Other windows exist to allow sensors and weapons to operate
through the shields.

Impacts on the shield cause Cerenkov radiation to be released, often perceived as a flash of colour which "lights up" the shield,
rendering it briefly visible. To an observer it appears that the intruding object bounces off the shields - in fact the spatial distortion
becomes so great that the path of the object is radically altered, and to an zero dimensional observer on the incoming object it
appears that it is the starship which has suddenly changed location while his/her course is unchanged.

For over a century after the invention of the shield it was impossible to use transporters to beam to or from a shielded location,
but to an extent this limitation has now been circumvented. In general sensor and weapon windows are insufficient to allow
beaming; whilst technically there is nothing to prevent a ship opening a window in its own shields of sufficient size to allow
transport, in practice such windows are almost always large enough to be detected and exploited by enemy vessels and it is far
simpler just to drop the shields briefly altogether. The more modern Starfleet shield designs have now reached a point at which
transporters can be operated via a large wide frequency window which is briefly opened over the hull emitters. This gives greater
flexibility in using the transporter during high threat situations, but it remains a somewhat risky proposition - should an enemy
score even a near miss on such a window the effects on the ship would be considerable.

Beaming through an opponents shields is an altogether more difficult proposition, but this can be accomplished successfully if
the transporter operator has a detailed knowledge of the shield configuration s/he is attempting to beam through. A notable
example of this is the occasion when the USS Enterprise managed to beam a crew member on board the USS Phoenix whilst
that vessel was engaged in unlawful operations within Cardassian space, or the Defiant's use of the transporter to board the
Constitution class USS Enterprise whilst that ship was modulating its shields for sensor operation. Such operations remain the
exception rather than the rule, however - and against the unknown shield configuration of an enemy vessel, beam through
remains impossible.

The most recent advance in shielding systems is the Regenerative shield. This system is in use with the most modern generation
of Starfleet vessels, and was employed by the Dominion in the planetary defence network around Chintaka. The regenerative
shield allows a portion of the enemy fire to be diverted through the shield generator to reinforce the shield layer - the amount of
damage that a weapon impact does is thus greatly reduced. The effectiveness of the reinforcement depends on the shield
generator design, but typically the effectiveness of a shield will be increased several fold by the addition of regenerative capacity.

Visual shields on U.S.S. Rhode Island

Standard Shielding
Standard Equipment, the shield has been around since starfleet began. It provides a protective energy barrier around a starship.
Designed to prevent the travel of energy or matter, a shield effectively blocks all transporter activity. Shields require a Shield grid
shield generators.
Standard Shields are installed on all Starfleet ships.

Metaphasic Shielding
Metaphasic shielding is actually a software modification to normal shielding. Metaphasic shields are not very effective against
weapons, but dissipate energy extremely well. They are mainly used to protect a ship while in a stars corona. The Modification
can be installed on all starships with LCARS processors built after stardate 35000. The metaphasic shield was developed by the
Ferengi scientist Dr. Regar in the first place.

Multiphasic Shielding
Another software enhancement, the Multiphasic shielding program randomizes shield streghth, frequency and shape. It was
designed for use against the Borg, who adapt easily to one frequency. It can be installed on all starships with LCARS processors
built after stardate 35000.

Adaptive Shielding
Adaptive Shields allow the Shield arcs to be moved. So if you don't want any shields at the rear, that arc can be moved to
re-inforce the front shields with some small penalty (i.e. 1+1 = 1.8).

Regenerative Shielding
Although Standard Shielding also regenerates over time, the Regenerative Shielding is an upgrade to the standard system, which
increases it's regenerating potential allowing the shield to regenerate, while activated.

Automodulating Shielding
Research on Borg technology have lead to the development of the Automodulating Shield. Dedicated sensor resources analyse
incomming Threat weapon properties, be they energy or kinetic in nature, and adjust the shield configuration to best counter the
assault.

M.L.S.S. (Multi-Layered Shielding System)

Layer 3 - The outermost layer manipulates graviton polarity in a way not typical to shields, creating a graviton flux disruption that
prevents many know designs of threat tractor beams from locking on to the vessel. This layer also incorporates transport inhibitor
technology, helping prevent an enemy from transporting aboard.

Layer 2 - The middle layer incorporates automatic rotation of frequency and modulation with meta-phasics, which absorbs enemy
fire, spreads it out along the shield. This shield sends data on what type of weapon is used and what frequency and phase the
weapon uses. Once this is analyzed, the shield can be configured to have the same frequency as the incoming weapon, but
different modulation, which dramatically increases shield efficiency.

Layer 1 - The innermost shield layer is a multi-phasic shield. Based on standard regenerative shielding, this is the ship's last
line of defense. The key to this layer is it's ability to 'wave' while in a state of temporal flux. This technology was developed in
part by the crew of USS Voyager and the Mannheim Research Station. Instead of a standard oval bubble, this layer 'ripples' or
waves (like the surface of water) while in a state of temporal flux. This dramatically increases protection against weapons such
as the Chronaton, and Transphisic Torpedoes while at the same time helping protect the ship from temporal anomalies.

The design of the MLSS was modified just prior to it's entering service, in 2376, in order to increase effectiveness against both
high energy tractor beams and phased polaron particles, measures clearly aimed at the Borg and Dominion respectively. Under
normal operation the shield modulation frequencies are under the control of the ships computer system, which continually
evaluates incoming weapons fire and automatically re-modulates the shields to give the most effective possible defense. It is
thought that this system, in conjunction with transport inhibitor technology, will also enable the shield system to prevent
beam-through by Borg and Dominion transporter technology.

Multi-Spatial Shielding
This new shielding system builds a back-buffer shield in addition to the primary shield. When sufficient damage is taken to the
primary shield, the back buffer is phased through to replace the primary while it regenerates within the protection of the new
primary shield. This new system consumes a good deal of energy, which is supplied by half a dozen fusion reactors arrayed
near the shield emitters. The new shields also incorperate every advancement Starfleet has made in the last 20 years

4. Containment Fields
The Containment Field has become the standard method of confining objects and isolating them from their surroundings for a
wide variety of purposes. Some of the main applications common on board the modern Starship are listed below :

Many medical applications of containment fields exist. Typically these are among the weakest in use, since the likes of virus
samples cannot - usually - attempt to physically force their way out of a container. Medical fields are generally designed only to
create a perfectly air-tight seal.

Engineering applications include the storage of material samples collected via transporter. This generally requires higher strengths,
since the samples collected can include the likes of high temperature plasmas or highly radioactive materials.

A step up from these levels of field are those used in the shuttle or cargo bays of a starship in order to contain the atmosphere
whilst allowing vehicles to pass through relatively unhindered. The atmospheric containment field of even a small cargo bay
must hold against a force of over half a million Newtons, whilst the field used on the main hangar bay of a Galaxy class
starship must withstand some two hundred and fifty times this.

Probably the biggest use of the containment field on board a starship is in the field of security. These are generally used to
block corridors, keep prisoners contained within the brig whilst allowing visual checks on their condition to be made, or to
restrict entry to vital areas of the ship.

Starships by their very nature must employ ultra strong fields in a few selected locations. Whilst these fields can be many
times stronger than even the ships main shielding system, this is usually gained by generating the field over a very
restricted volume and projecting it directly within the generator network itself. Such fields are used to contain the
matter-antimatter reaction within the warp core and power transfer conduits which permeate a starship.

Holographic Masking System

The Holographic Masking System created by Doctor Brexen Ijoula, Chief Engineer of the U.S.S. Incursion, in the year 2376. This
System was featured only on Covert Operations vessel until the introduction of the Type 9x Shuttle in 2387.

The Holographic Masking System uses an array of holographic emitters around the ship controlled by a single holographic matrix.
The system is able to recreate any vessel visually and emittion wise around the current ship, effectively disguising it as another
ship. The holograph must first be loaded into the system before usage can be attempted. The Holographic Masking System isn't
fullproof and it can be uncovered by using other then standard sensor systems.

Holotechnology

Holodeck
Since the first primitive "virtual reality" systems were created in the 1990's, Humans have advanced hugely in their ability to
recreate the sights and sounds of a real environments within an artificial setting. The early VR environments could by no
means be called realistic, but by the mid twenty first century computers had advanced to the point where VR systems had
gone into common use both in entertainment and many other more serious applications. VR technology was virtually
abandoned in the aftermath of World War III, and no serious efforts to pursue simulated environments was made again
until near the end of the twenty first century.

The major stumbling block to Virtual Reality as it existed at this time was physical - no matter how good the computer became
at projecting images, sounds, and suchlike to the user, he or she was not actually in a real environment. Although body suits
capable of simulating tactile impressions had come into use by 2120, these where never considered a serious substitute for
actually handling real physical objects.

What was needed was a way to physically recreate an environment which the user could then interact with freely. This did not
become possible until the invention of the replicator unit in 2315; based on transporter technology, the replicator allowed actual
objects to be created in an instant and deleted as needed.

The first "holochambers" emerged in 2328; they used a small room equipped with a set of holographic projectors which could
generate a realistic image of an outdoors scene onto the walls and ceiling. A replicator would then materialize objects within
the room to go with the image - plants and trees, for example. The users where then free to pick up and use the objects without
having to wear any kind of projection equipment themselves.

Early holochambers suffered from several limitations; a careless user could easily walk into a wall, for example, and if several
users where in one chamber then they could only be as far away from each other as the size of the chamber allowed. The major
limitation was in the creation of characters within the holochamber; although reasonably realistic images of people and animals
could be projected, users could not physically touch these characters in any way.

More recent models have largely overcome these problems; a modern holochamber projects a forcefield across the floor of the
chamber, and should a user walk towards the wall this field begins to act as a 'treadmill' to keep the person stationary; the
computer automatically moves the replicated objects within the holochamber and adjusts the holographic projections to
simulate the movement the user should experience. Replicated objects reaching the wall are dematerialized, while images of
objects reaching the space within the chamber are replicated for real.

The second hurdle was overcome by 'internal partitioning' of the chamber. Should two people enter a holochamber and walk in
directly opposite directions, they would previously only be able to go so far before reaching the walls. While the 'treadmill' effect
can convince a user that the environment is passing them, it cannot make the users continue to move further away from each
other and so the illusion would be broken.

In modern holochambers, the computer would sense that this was about to happen and throw up an internal divide; halfway across
the holochamber the computer would throw up a hologram showing each user an image of the other, continuing to move further
away - essentially this process creates two miniature holochambers within one. Should the users head back towards each other
the computer would reverse the process, merging the two into one again. A modern holochamber is capable of sub-dividing into
many separate environments, allowing groups of people to wander around independently of each other.

Perhaps the most impressive advance in holochamber technology has been the advent of 'holomatter'. This is solid matter created
within the holochamber energy grid and manipulated by highly articulated computer driven tractor beams; although early efforts
where crude, modern holochambers can use holomatter to create and animate totally realistic characters within the chamber.

standard holodeck on galaxy-class vessels

The basic mechanism behind the holochamber is the omni-directional holo-diode (OHD). The OHD is a small unit (several hundred
million per square metre in modern holochambers) which is capable of projecting both full colour stereoscopic images and three
dimensional forcefields. The OHD's are circuit printed onto large sheets, which are then subdivided into tiles of 0.61 square metres.
A typical starfleet Holodeck wall consists of twelve sub processing layers totalling 3.5 mm thickness, diffusion bonded to a
lightweight cooling tile. The panel is controlled by an optical data network similar to that used for standard panel displays. Dedicated
subsections of the main computer system drive the holodeck, and it is the memory and speed of these computers which
determines the number and complexity of the holodeck programmes available.

Although modern holochambers are often touted as being just as good as the real thing, in practice there are still limitations. Even
the best holochamber can only subdivide into a maximum of twelve separate environments, and many holochamber programmes are
not complex enough to make full use of the holochambers technical capabilities. Perhaps the biggest limitation is in the holomatter
itself; this is only stable within the energy grid, and looses cohesion almost instantly if removed from the holochamber.

Holochambers come in various sizes and types; the federation is reputed to have the best models, with Earth boasting some of the
largest known holochambers. Starfleet 'Holodecks' are probably the most technically sophisticated, while the Ferengi are known for
having some of the most advanced and creative entertainment software.

Impulse Systems

The basics of Impulse Engine design as employed by the United Federation of Planets, and most other major powers, have
remained more or less static for almost a century now. In general, Impulse engines consist of four main components :

1. The Fuel Tank
The fuel tank contains the reactants used within the engine. Current technology used Tritium mix, while using only one type of fuel
eliminates the necessity for two independent sets of fuel storage and handling systems within the ship.

2. The Reactor
Once the fuel has left the tanks, it is reduced in temperature to form pellets of solid Tritium ice of variable diameter. These are fired
nto the reactor where a set of fusion initiators are used to ignite the pellet whilst a magnetic field holds them in place. The Tritium
atoms are fused together in part according to the equation :

H + H -> 2 He + n + 3.2 MeV

Which gives the conversion of mass to energy a theoretical maximum efficiency of 0.08533% -in practice other reactions and
engine design produces different efficiencies. The standard Impulse fusion reactor as used in the Galaxy class Starship is a
sphere six metres in diameter, constructed of dispersion-strengthened hafnium excelinide. The reactors can be networked together,
with each one passing its plasma output to another in a cascade fashion. Each of the eight Impulse engines on a Galaxy class
starship has three fusion reactors connected together in this manner.

3. The Space-time Driver Coil
Once the Deuterium has fused successfully, the plasma stream created is passed through the next major component - the
space-time driver coil. Under the Einsteinian physics which holds true for objects at sub-warp velocities it is virtually impossible for
a simple fusion rocket to deliver sufficient energy to accelerate a spacecraft to near light speed - the fuel requirement rapidly
increase to the point where the large majority of the vessel would be dedicated to fuel tankage.The coil avoids this situation by
generating a sub-warp cochrane field around the vessel, reducing its effective mass in order to boost the acceleration.

Actual Impulse flight performance is therefore dependant not only on the specifications of the fusion reactors, but also on the
capabilities of the driver coils. One of the fastest ships ever fielded in terms of Impulse performance was the refit Constitution class.
This ship was capable of reaching 'Full Impulse' (25% c) in a matter of seconds. At the other end of the scale the much later
Ambassador class was designed to achieve a far more lowly acceleration of 10,000 ms-2, sufficient to reach Full Impulse in 1.25
minutes.

4. The Engine
Once the plasma stream has passed through the driver coil assembly, it reaches the exhaust port and passes into space. If the
coil itself is not engaged, the Impulse Engine reverts to behaving like a simple Newtonian fusion rocket with a performance
thousands of times less than its normal capabilities. Under these circumstances the exhaust system is designed to vector the
thrust of the engine in order to correct for unusual mass distributions or provide off-axis thrust for enhanced agility. At velocities
which are an appreciable fraction of that of light, time dilation becomes a factor for Starship crews. When a ship travels very near
to the velocity of light, this effect can become very significant. For example, at the 92% c which is the maximum velocity of the
Galaxy class Starship over 2.5 days would pass for a stationary observer for each day which passed for the crew. In order to keep
these effects below a 3.5% time differential, the Federation has long imposed a ban on Impulse flight above velocities of 0.25 c -
so called "Full Impulse" - on all normal missions. While this restriction is not applicable during combat operations, the effects of
time dilation can have extremely adverse effects on a vessel in these conditions - a crew can find themselves in a position where
their reaction time will be greatly reduced compared to an enemy because of the difference in velocities between them. High
relativistic speeds are therefore generally avoided altogether by Starships.

Early space vessels had to mount so called "retro-rockets" in order to slow themselves down as they approached their destination,
or else turn their craft backwards and use the main engines to slow down. One further advantage of utilizing the driver coil in an
Impulse engine is that this rather cumbersome requirement is removed. The driver coil essentially allows the ship to reduce its
mass in order to allow a - relatively - small amount of kinetic energy to create a great deal of velocity. Once the coil is discharged,
the ship returns rapidly to its normal mass. The kinetic energy remains constant, so the velocity is vastly reduced without any
need to use the engines thrust.

In theory, the coil alone could be used to drive the ship by simply adjusting the mass so that the velocity reaches the desired level.
In practice, however, it is not that simple. The coil cannot be simply turned up and down as required, but is rather discharged and
then recharged by the flow of plasma through it - essentially, by the normal operation of the impulse engine. It is thus not possible
to 'tune' a ships mass up and down as required. Overcoming this limitation has been the holy grail of Impulse engine designers for
well over a century, but as yet no progress has been made.

Inertial Damping System

Operating in parallel with the sructural integrity field systems is the inertial damping field system (IDF). The IDF generates a
controlled seriesof variable-symmetry forcefields that absorb the inertial forces of spaceflight that would otherwise kill the crew.
The IDF is generated independantly from the SIF, but is fed by a parallel series of waveguides that are then conducted through
synthetic gravity plates. The IDF maintains a low-level force-field throughout the vessel's habitable volume, this field has a strength
of approximately 75 millicochranes with field differential limited to 5.26 nanocochranes per meter (per SFRA-standard 352.12 for
crew exposure to subspace fields). As the computer anticipates acceleration effects the IDF field is distorted along a vector
diametrically opposed to the velocity change. The IDF therby absorbs the inertial potential which would otherwise have acted on
the crew and internal systems of the vessel.

There is a characteristic lag-time for the shifting of IDF direction and intensity. This lag varies with the net acceleration involved,
but averages 295 millicochranes for normal impulse maneuvers. Because IDF control is generally derived from Flight Control data,
normal course corrections can be anticipated so there is rarely any noticable acceleration to the crew. Exceptions to this
sometimes occur when power for IDF operations is restricted or when sudden maneuvers or other externally caused accelerations
occur more rapidly than the system can respond. Flux generation for the IDF consists of clusters of 500 kW graviton polarity
sources feeding 150 millicohrane subspace field distortion amplifiers. The system is cooled by liquid helium coolant loops, each
having a heat dissipated rate of 100,000 MJ/hr. Starfleet vessels have several backup IDF generators, each providing 65% of
maximum rated power for up to 12 hrs. The normal duty cycle for generators is 48 hrs between standard maintenance procedures,
the graviton polarity sources are rated for 2,500 operating hours between routine servicing of super-conductive elements.

Life Support System

Life Support System or Life support is a designation for a number of ship systems necessary to maintain living conditions for the
crew, namely atmospheric system, gravity generators and EPS. The life support systems are distributed throughout the ship and
redundant systems are available to provide maximum safety for the crew.

Multifunctional Phased Array (MPA)

Multifunctional Phased Arrays (MPA): These are integrated networks of emitters and sensors imbedded directly within the hull
matrix itself. Each array includes sensors, phaser emitters, navigational deflector emitters, and tractor beam emitters. As a
result each array can take a significant amount of damage before performance is noticeably diminished.

Navigational Deflectors

While by most standards space qualifies as 'empty', in fact there is a significant amount of material of one sort or another within
the interplanetary and interstellar medium. Most of this material is of atomic size, but a small fraction is comprised of
micrometeorites and other such debris. All of this represents a potential danger to the unprotected vessel travelling at high
relativistic or any warp speed; the kinetic energy of even a one gram object at 0.25 c is in excess of 2.8 TeraJoules, sufficient to
vaporize over a cubic metre of tritanium.

The navigational deflector is designed to protect a ship from this hazard. An offshoot of tractor beam technology, the navigational
deflector uses graviton polarity source generator to feed a subspace field distortion amplifier in order to project a 'force beam' ahead
of the ship. This is sufficient to deflect most material out of the path of the vessel well before impact would occur.

The navigation deflector is usually one of the largest components of a vessel, most especially so as it is usually combined with a
large sensor cluster. On Federation starships the deflector is usually a large flat or concave area located to give it a clear line of
sight ahead of the vessel - usually at the front of the engineering section. The deflectors are typically steerable to some 7o from
the normal line of sight.

The Navigational Deflector is unmistakable on the Galaxy - Class

Subspace field coils are used to split the deflector output into two components. First, a series of five nested parabolic shields
extend nearly 2 km ahead of the ship. Very low power, these shields are sufficient to deflect stray hydrogen atoms of the
interstellar medium as well as any sub-micron particles than may have escaped the deflector beam. While the vessel is at warp
speed any particles hitting these fields will travel rapidly across the surface of the shields, passing through the ships warp field.
This causes them to fluoresce, creating a 'rainbow streak' effect as they pass the ship. These streaks are bright enough that the
uninformed often mistake them for passing stars!

The navigation shields also posses another intriguing property; they are immune to attack from laser weaponry. This is due to the
trans-static flux effect which occurs as a by-product of the deflection process; when laser light impinges on a deflector field, the
effect creates a small portal into subspace, causing the laser beam to pass harmlessly into this domain. As the beam is not
subspace encased, it will re-emerge into normal space within a few milliseconds, putting it several hundred light seconds away.
Since the beam never actually impacts on either the deflector shield or hull the power of the attack is irrelevant to the effect. This
process is not regarded as a serious defensive measure, since laser weapons are considered obsolete by most major powers.

The second part of the navigational deflector system is a powerful tractor / deflector beam that sweeps thousands of kilometres
ahead of the ship. This pushes aside larger objects that may present a collision hazard.

Replicators

Replicators are essentially an outgrowth of transporter technology. The Molecular Matrix Matter Replicator, to give it its full name,
is capable of dematerializing a quantity of stored matter in much the same way as a transporter system does; however, there are
no imaging scanners to analyse the structure of the material. Instead, a quantum geometry transformational matrix is used to
modify the matter stream. The computer which oversees the process can use any available stored pattern within this matrix; once
the pattern has been impressed onto the matter stream, it is rematerialized into an almost perfect copy of the original patterned
object.

Replicators are available in small stand alone units, and these must be supplied with power and periodically re-stocked with raw
material to keep them running. However, most replicator systems consist of little more than a rematerializing unit and a computer
subprocessor / interface panel. Many thousands of these units can be connected to a large central dematerializer and
transformational matrix system, controlled by a computer holding many thousands of stored patterns and stocked with many tons
of raw material. When a user wants to replicate something he or she inputs the request to the terminal, which requests the item
from the central system. Once the dematerialization and patterning processes are complete, the matter stream is routed through a
network of wave guides to the terminal which originated the request and dematerialized there. This system saves having to keep
thousands of individual replicators constantly stocked with raw materials.

Standard type replicators in use by Starfleet

In theory any object can be made from any basic raw material, but in practice significant energy saving can be made by using
certain materials; for replication of food items an organic particulate suspension is used; a combination of long chain molecules,
this substance has been specially designed, statistically speaking, to require the minimum number of molecular transformations to
achieve the maximum variety of foodstuffs. Equivalent stocks are available for replication of non foodstuffs, with the control
computer making the choice automatically.

Replicators which also have a dematerialization system installed can also serve as waste receptacles; waste placed into these
can be dematerialized and returned to the central stock, ready to be replicated again. Until recently it was far more efficient to
simply collect and recycle the waste by conventional methods, and using replicator terminals in this way was rare. However,
recent advances in replicator technology have made such systems a viable proposition and this form of recycling is gradually
becoming more commonplace.

Larger scale industrial replicators are available for the creation of a very wide variety of items which previously required dedicated
factories to manufacture them. However, these replicator systems are limited in their abilities - the main such limit being the size
of the object produced. For larger manufactured items, it is necessary to replicate smaller components and assemble them via
traditional methods. Unfortunately the dream of the replicated skyscraper or starship remains a log way off!

All present day replicator systems share one basic limitation; they operate at the molecular resolution. As such, significant
numbers of single bit errors will occur at the quantum level during any replication. Many claim that this gives replicated foodstuffs a
distinctly inferior flavour to the 'real thing', although this may be more a question of bias against the technology rather than any
discernible difference.However, the errors are more than sufficient to prevent replication of the precise energy states involved in
neural and bioelectric patterns. These patterns, which are reproduced exactly during the operation of the transporter, are necessary
to materialize a living being; this limitation therefore prevents the replication of any living thing via standard methods.

Reaction Control System (RCS)

Also referred to as maneuvering thrusters. The RCS is a low-power propulsion system for low-velocity attitude and translational
control. Depending on the starship type, the system consists of a number of thruster quads mostly located at the edge of the
saucer hull. The RCS used in most Federation vessels is based on a fusion reaction, but its principle has not changed since the
early days of space travel in the 1960's, and similar thrusters were attached e.g. to the hull of the Apollo spaceship.

a RCS Thruster Quad

Sensor System

Sensor is a collective name for a variety of devices for gathering data about electromagnetic radiation and particles and for
hemical, biological and medical analysis. External sensors are attached to the outer hull of a starship. Among them are
navigational sensors which determine the ship's position and velocity and scientific sensors for astronomical observation, planetary
surface analysis and remote lifeform analysis. Internal sensors are used to control life support and detect hazardous environmental
conditions as well as to track potential intruders. Finally, sensors are also included in tricorders and other hand-held devices
which can perform similar tasks, however, their range is limited.

Sensors used on Federation ship include: Wide angle EM radiation imaging scanner, Quark population analysis counter, Z-range
particulate spectrometry sensor, High energy proton spectrometry cluster, Gravimetric distortion mapping scanner, Magnetic
interferometry scanner, Low frequency EM-flux scanner, Localized subspace field stress sensor, Parametric subspace field stress
sensor, Alpha X-ray multi-spectrum scanner, High-band forced gravity wave sensor, Low-level maser beam scanners,
Multifrequency subspace imaginging clusters, Variable band optical imagine cluster, Real-aperture graviton flux spectrometer,
High resolution graviton flux spectrometer, Low-resolution graviton spin polarimeter, Passive imaging high-energy photon sensor,
Low-level thermal imaging sensor, Fixed angle gamma frequency counter, Virtual particle mapping camera, Transwarp-based high
focus particle imaging array.

SDD (Sensor Doppler Device)

The new and experimental Sensor Doppler Device is a revolutionair system which unleashed the doppler effect on the ships
emittions.The Sensor Doppler Device creates a bubble around the ship that protects the ship from target locks and distorts the
enemies sensor readings. A drawback is that this device uses large amounts of energy, drawing it straight from the Warp Core
systems, this temporarily disables the Warpdrive system.

The SDD in use on a test ship

Tractor beams

One requirement for all Starfleet vessels is the ability to manipulate objects in space. Typically this will involve towing other vessels
or holding sensor probes in place, but modifying the course of asteroids or space debris is also an option.

To accomplish this, Starfleet vessels are equipped with one or more tractor beam emitters. These employ superimposed
subspace/graviton force beams which focuses interference patterns on a remote object. This results in significant spatial stress
being imposed on the object; by controlling the focal point and interference patterns of the beam it is possible to use this stress
pattern to place either a repelling or attracting force on the object.

The U.S.S. Defiant uses it's tractor beam to tow a Danube Class Runabout

Power for the tractor beam emitters is provided by variable phase graviton polarity sources feeding sub-cochrane subspace field
amplifiers. Phase accuracy of less than 2.7 arc-seconds per millisecond is required for precise control of a tractor beam. Use of a
tractor beam can involve placing significant stress on both emitter and target, and vessels with low structural strength can be
damaged by a tractor beam. Because of the potential damage to a vessel using a tractor beam, all Starfleet tractor emitters are
attached directly to the skeletal frame, and are protected by the structural integrity field system of the craft.

All Starfleet vessels are equipped with at least one tractor beam emitter, generally placed so it can tow an object which is situated
behind and below. Vessels of Runabout size or above are fitted with more than one emitter - large starships having enough to
ensure all-round coverage.

Transporters

The transporter is probably the single greatest revolution in the movement of people and goods in recorded history; invented in 2205,
this device cut trans-planetary transport times to near zero at a stroke.

The basic operating principles of the transporter are relatively simple. It makes a detailed scan of the subject, breaks down its
molecular structure, then transmits this beam to another location. The information gained from the scan is then used to
reassemble the subject exactly as before.

Like many simple ideas, the actual engineering required to construct a working transporter are quite more complex. A standard
transporter unit consists of ten major components :

1. The Transport Chamber
The Transport Chamber is the area in which the subject is placed for transport. The transport chamber can be of almost any size or
shape, though larger chambers have far greater energy requirements and are correspondingly less efficient for general use. Most
transport chambers are capable of holding approximately six persons.

2. The Operators Console
The Operators Console is the control unit of the whole system; these consoles are typically manned by a single operator who
oversees the transport process and is responsible for reacting to emergency situations, as well as conducting routine maintenance
of the transporter systems.

3. The Transport Controller
The Transporter Controller is a dedicated computer system which controls the minutiae of the transport process itself.

4. The Primary Energizing Coils
The Primary Energizing Coils are located directly above the transport chamber. These coils generate the annular confinement
beam, creating a space-time matrix within which the dematerializing process occurs. The primary energizing coils also generate a
containment field around the subject in order to prevent any possible breach of the annular confinement beam during the transport
process. This is important as such disruption can result in a sizeable energy discharge.

5. The Phase Transition Coils
The Phase Transition Coils are located in the floor of the transport chamber. It is the phase transition coils that cause the actual
dematerialisation/materialisation process. They do this be decoupling the binding energy between the subatomic particles of the
subject, causing the atoms themselves to disintegrate.

6. The Molecular Imaging Scanners
Molecular Imaging Scanners are located in the roof of the transport chamber. These devices scan the subject to be transported at
quantum resolution, determining the location and momentum of every particle within the subject. Bulk cargo can be scanned at the
molecular resolution, as it is not generally vital to recreate the object exactly. Living matter requires that exact information be
obtained, a process which violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This is made possible by the Heisenberg Compensator
system, a component of the molecular imaging scanners of all personnel transport systems. All transporters are built with four
redundant sets of scanners, allowing any three to override a fourth should it make an error. Should two scanners produce the same
error the transport process would be aborted automatically by the transport controller system.

7. The Pattern Buffer
The Pattern Buffer is a large super conducting tokamak device, usually situated directly underneath the transporter unit itself.
Once the subject has been dematerialized they are passed into the pattern buffer and held in suspension while the system
compensates for relative motion between itself and the target location. Pattern buffers can be shared by several different transport
systems, although only one transporter can use a given buffer at a time. Should an emergency arise during transport a pattern can
be held suspended in a transport buffer without being either sent or dematerialized; however, after a few minutes such a pattern
will begin to degrade to the point at which the subject will be unrecoverable.

8. The Biofilter
The Biofilter is an image processing device which analyses the data from the molecular imaging scanner in order to locate any
potentially damaging organisms which may have infected the subject. The biofilter is not generally a part of civilian transporter
systems, though it is mandatory on all Starfleet transporters.

9. The Emiter Pad
The Emitter Pad Array is mounted on the exterior of the transport system itself - in the case of a spacecraft, on the hull of the ship.
The array transmits the actual matter stream to or from the destination. Components of the emitter array include the phase
transition matrix and primary energizing coils. Some transporter systems also contain clusters of long range molecular imaging
scanners within the emitter pad; this allows the system to lock onto targets at long range to beam them from remote locations
without outside assistance. Most transporter systems do not include long range molecular scanners; such transporters can only
beam to and from other other systems.

10. The Targeting Scanners
Targeting Scanners are a set of redundant sensors which are responsible for determining the exact location of the destination in
relation to the transporter unit. Targeting scanners also determine the environmental conditions at the target site. Although
dedicated targeting scanners should ideally be a component of any transport process, in practice any sensor device of sufficient
range and accuracy can provide the required information so long as it is compatible with the transporter controller information
protocols. In addition, if transport is being conducted between systems with a fixed relative position - planetary transporter units,
for example - targeting information can be disregarded.

The precise operation of a transporter naturally depends on the level of system specifications. Starfleet transporters are generally
reckoned to be the most advanced in the Federation, since they are required to perform a wider range of tasks over much more
variable conditions than civilian models. A typical operations for Starfleet transporters include the following :

Beam up involves using the emitter array as the primary energizing coil in order to beam a subject from a remote location which
does not have a transporter system.

Site-to-site transport involves following the conventional beam up process until the subject is in the pattern buffer; the subject is
then shunted to a second pattern buffer and on to another emitter array before being beamed out to a new location. This process
essentially merges two transport processes in order to allow a subject to be beamed from one location to another without having to
rematerialise on board ship first. This process is avoided if possible since it requires double the energy expenditure and system
resources to accomplish each transport.

Hold in pattern buffer. As described, the pattern buffer can be used to hold a subject essentially is stasis. Normally these patterns
will degrade after just a few minutes at most, though on one occasion a specially modified transporter held a subject intact for
seventy five years.

Dispersal. Although transporter systems are designed to beam a subject to or from a destination intact, it is possible to override
the safety systems on a standard Starfleet transporter and cause it to deliberately disperse the subject over a wide area. This is
done by disengaging the annular confinement beam during rematerialization, depriving the subject of a proper reference matrix to
form against. Such a measure may be used in order to neutralize a dangerous payload such as a bomb or other weapon; the
measure is frequently complemented by materializing the subject in space.

Near warp transport is achieved by careful shifting of the ACB frequency. This can be an uncomfortable experience for those who
go through it, and on occasion can even be dangerous.

Warp transport can be achieved by the same method as near warp transport; this is only effective if the origin and destination are
moving at the same warp speed. Transport between locations moving with different warp speeds result in a catastrophic loss of
pattern integrity - this is fatal to living organisms.

Turbolift

Transportation system within a starship. The turbolift system consists of a network of turboshafts and the single turbolift cars. A
turbolift is driven by linear motors. Acceleration up to 10m/s^2 is possible and can be partially compensated for the passengers
by damping fields within the car.

The standard turbolift used on Galaxy Class Vessels

Structure
Exterior deuterium gliders hold the turbolift in the track. Turbolifts have a voice-command interface, but there is also a manual
interface (seen here). The inertial damper-matrix in the bottom absorbs shocks and velocity changes. The walls of a turbolift are
very thin, but also very strong. The doors of a turbolift are non-tranparent, because the turbo-shaft is boring to look at. The doors
open automatically when a person wants to get in or out, but they can be opened manually. Emergency escape hatch, in case the
turbolift gets stuck between two decks.

Ultrasonic Shower

Personal cleaning system in crew quarters aboard Federation starships. Besides ultrasonic showers, old-fashioned bathtubs are
usually available as well. Ultrasonic cleaning is widely employed in dental laboratories, precision mechanics or semiconductor
manufacturing, where a detergent or pure water is employed as the transducer for the ultrasonic vibrations (>20kHz) and also
serves to solve and carry away dust or grease particles.

Universal Translator

The universal translator is a device used to produce real-time two-way translation of spoken languages. It operated by sensing and
comparing brain wave frequencies, then selecting comparable concepts to use as a basis for translation. A software version of the
universal translator was programmed into the Enterprise D's main computer. This enabled real-time communications with such life
forms as the nanites. The communication badges worn by Starfleet personnel in the latter half of the 24th century incorporated
miniature versions of the universal translator. Even smaller versions of the universal translator could be inserted into the outer ear,
providing unobtrusive operation. Such devices could, however, be disrupted by exposure to beta radiation. The universal translator
generally requires an adequate sample of language in order to establish a translation matrix. This device is not infallible by any
means, as noted by the unit aboard the U.S.S. Voyager which had great difficulty in translating the language of a mysterious
civilization called the Swarm in 2373.

Warpdrive

Warp drive is by far the most widespread method of faster than light travel used in the alpha quadrant. Invented in 2063 by Zephram
Cochrane of Earth (and later of Alpha Centuri), the first of his warp drives used a fission reactor to create a low energy plasma
stream. This was split into two and directed through a pair of warp coils to produce a field around the ship which propelled it -
briefly - faster than the speed of light.

Humans subsequently sold warp drive ships to many other cultures, and this technology has become common within the quadrant
with over 2,000 species using it. The present day state of the art is not fundamentally different from Cochranes original system;
ships today generally use matter / antimatter reactors rather than fusion ones, and dilithium has allowed more advanced power
systems. The warp coils themselves have also become more numerous and complex in design.

For the future, many developments are possible. Over a century since it was first envisaged, transwarp drive remains seemingly just
beyond the reach of Federation science. Other lines of research involve co-axial warp cores, which allow instantaneous travel over
sizeable distances, and slipstream technology, which could theoretically allow travel at hundreds of light years per second. If this
latter technology ever came to pass, it would make travel on an intergalactic scale easily feasible. On the other hand, the idea of
generating stable artificial wormholes for interstellar travel is also being researched and if successful this may render warp drive
totally obsolete.

A view of a Co-Axial warpcore

A. Matter / Anti-matter Pods
There are two distinct fuel storage systems on board any starship; the matter storage is generally a single large fuel tank holding a
large amount of slush Tritium.

The antimatter is contained within much smaller pods; the standard starship antimatter pod is capable of holding 100 m3 of fuel.
Starfleet is somewhat reticent about revealing exactly how much antimatter is kept on board its starships, as this would allow threat
forces to make detailed estimates of the total output of a ships power systems. It is known that the antimatter used in the Galaxy
class is antihydrogen, and that it is kept stored within magnetic fields. In the event of a systems failure which threatens antimatter
containment, the pods can be thrown clear of the ship by emergency systems of considerable reliability.

B. Reactant Injectors
Fuel from the pods is sent to the reactant injectors; these are designed to condition and feed streams of matter and antimatter into
the warp core. The matter reactant injector is located at the top of the warp core; it is a conical structure some 5.2 metres in
diameter and 6.3 metres high. The injector is constructed of dispersion strengthened woznium carbmolybdenide. Shock attenuation
cylinders connect it to the tritium fuel tank and the skeletal structure of the ship, allowing it to 'float' free within the structure.

Within Starfleet vessels, the MRI contains redundant sets of crossfed injectors. Each injector would consists of a twin tritium
manifold, fuel conditioner, fusion pre-burner, magnetic quench block, transfer duct/gas combiner, nozzle head, and related control
hardware. Other designs are in use by civilian craft and other species. Although operation varies from class to class, in general
slush tritium enters the inlet manifolds and is passed to the conditioners where heat is removed. This brings the tritium to just
above solid transition point; micropellets are formed and then pre-burned by a magnetic pinch fusion system. The fuel is them sent
on to a gas combiner where it reaches a temperature in the region of 106 K. Nozzle heads then focus the gas streams and send
them down into the constriction segments.

Starfleet safety protocols require that should any nozzle fail, the combiner can continue to supply the remaining nozzles which
would dialate to accommodate the increased fuel flow. The present generation of nozzles are constructed of frumium-copper-yttrium
2343.

The antimatter injector lies at the lower end of the warp core. Its internal design is distinctly different from that of the matter injector
owing to the dangerous nature of antimatter fuel; every step in manipulating the antihydrogen must use magnetic to keep the
material from physically touching any part of the structure. In some ways the ARI is a simpler device requiring fewer moving
components. It uses the same basic structural housing and shock attenuation as the matter system, with adaptations for
magnetic suspension fuel tunnels. The structure contains three pulsed antimatter gas flow separators; these serve to break up the
incoming antihydrogen into small manageable packets and send them up into the constriction segments. Each flow separator
leads to an injector nozzle and each nozzle cycles open in response to computer control signals. Nozzle firing can follow highly
complicated sequence`resulting from the varying demands of reaction pressures and temperatures and desired power output,
amongst other factors.

the M/ARA systems on the Galaxy Class

C. Magnetic Constrictors
The magnetic constrictors make up the bulk of the warp core. They provide physical support to the reaction chamber, pressure
containment for the whole core and, most importantly, guide and align the fuel flow onto the desired location within the reaction
chamber.

The matter constrictor is typically longer than the antimatter constrictor, as antimatter is easier to focus and so requires a shorter
distance for the same accuracy. Typically, the magnetic constrictors are divided into segments; each segment will contain several
sets of tension frame members, a toroidal pressure vessel wall, several sets of magnetic constrictor coils and related power and
control hardware. Constrictor coils will have dozens of active elements, and on more advanced designs these will be configures to
contain the magnetic field almost wholly within the constrictor, with minimum spillage into the exterior environment. Starfleet warp
cores usually have the outermost layers of the constrictors constructed of a semi-transparent layer which allows harmless
secondary photons to escape from the inner layers, creating a glow effect. This gives an immediate visual cue to the current
activity rates within the warp core.

As the fuel is released from the injector nozzles, the constrictors compress it and increase the velocity considerably. This ensures
the proper collision energy and alignment within the reaction chamber.

D. Reaction Chamber
This is in many ways the "heart" of the ship. The principle function of any reaction chamber is to allow the matter and antimatter
streams to come together and direct the resultant energy flow into the power transfer conduits. This apparently simple task is
rendered highly complex by the need to allow the various sensor and other monitoring and control equipment to function within the
chamber. The addition of keltrinium to regulate and control the reaction, while allowing far higher efficiency and so increasing the
power output, has also lead to ever more complex designs - most especially in more recent starships which are designed to allow
continual recompositing of the dilithium whilst in use. Nevertheless, reaction chambers of today perform fundamentally the same
task as those of a century ago or more.

E. Dilithium or Keltrinium Crystals
Dilithium is a key factor in the design of any efficient matter / antimatter reactor, and has been incorporated into Federation Starship
designs since it replaced lithium crystals in 2265. In 2387 a new and revolutionary Crystal is introduced, namely the Keltrinium
Crystal. It's currently in it's testing fase, but the current ships running with it have shown improvements of 12% in the efficiency levels.

Keltrinium has one great advantage over dilithium, it can be replicated by standard replicators and doesn't involve much different
technics in restoring or aquiring it. A drawback is that it doesn't last as long as dilithium, but this is subdued by the fact that it is
easily recreated.

The key to the success of dilithium/keltrinium lies in the remarkable properties of those materials. When subjected to a high frequency
electromagnetic field in the megawatt range, Dilithium or 2<5>6 dilithium 2<:> diallosilicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide and Keltrinium or 3<4>8
Keltrinium 6<:> diallosilicate 3:4:6 hexaferranide becomes completely porous to antimatter. The field dynamo effect created by the iron
atoms within the crystalline structure allows antimatter atoms to pass through without actually touching it; it is thus the only known
substance which does not react to the antimatter fuel commonly used in Starships. Dilithium/Keltrinium can thus be used to mediate the
reaction, boosting efficiency.

A side effect of the Keltrinium Crystals is that the plasma doesn't have the standard blue color, but a far lighter yellow glow.

F. Power Transfer Conduits
The power transfer conduits are similar in nature to the magnetic constrictors of the warp core, in that they are ducts designed to
use high energy magnetic fields to carry energetic plasma from one point to another. But where the magnetic constrictors operate
only across relatively short distances and require a very high degree of precision with a comparatively low energy plasma, the PTC's
must carry very energetic plasma across large distances with - relatively speaking - far less finesse.

Federation starships are equipped with a separate PTC line for each nacelle, a measure which increases resistance to battle
damage or other failures. Since most Starships have twin nacelles, two PTC's will typically be arranged to be symmetrical about the
ships centreline. These will proceed through the bulk of the engineering hull and along the connecting struts, if any, to the nacelles
themselves.

Smaller versions of these heavy duty systems are also used to carry power to components such as the phasers, shields, and high
energy scientific laboratories.

G. Plasma Injectors
At the terminus of the Power Transfer Conduits are the plasma injectors. One of these devices is fitted in each nacelle, and has the
task of sending a precisely aimed plasma flow through the centre of the warp coils. Because of the relatively low accuracy with
which the plasma flow is usually controlled by a PTC, the plasma injector system must often be designed to re-condition the fuel
flow in order to dampen down turbulence and so ensure a smooth flow through the warp coils. In many Starfleet designs, most
especially those systems with the highest raw power output, the plasma flow from the PTC is split into two parts and sent through
swirl dampers before being recombined during the injection process. Long experience has found that this method reduces the size
of the required hardware to a reasonable minimum.

H. Warp Coils
After its long journey from the fuel systems, the flow is finally directed down the warp coils. These devices are large split toroids
which take up the bulk of the nacelle. In order to increase efficiency they are usually made from multiple layers of various materials;
this complicates the manufacturing processes greatly and has - so far - kept the replication of warp coils beyond Federation science.

The warp coils generate a multi-layered set of fields around the craft, creating the propulsive forces that enable a Starship to travel
beyond light speed. Manipulation of the shape and size of the field determines the velocity, acceleration and direction of the vessel.

Warp Nacelle on Sovereign Class

I. Bussard Collectors
Named after the 20th century physicist and mathematician Robert W. Bussard, the Bussard Ramscoop in capable of collecting
low-grade interstellar matter trough a series of high energy magnetic coils. A Bussard Collector is found at the forward end of each
of the warp drive nacelles. The Assembly consists of three main elements: an ionizing beam emitter IBE, which charges neutral
particles in space; a magnetic field generator / collector MFG / C, a set of coils that cast a magnetic "net" ahead of the ship and
pull in the charged particles; and the continuous cycle fractionator CCF, which separates the incoming gases (see below for an
image of this process). The interstellar matter collected can be used as fuel in the event a deuterium tanker cannot reach the ship
for normal refueling. On Federation vessels the Bussard collectors are usually situated at the front of the nacelles, and
are typically visible as a large red-glowing dome. As well as being used to collect gas, the collectors are capable of being
back-flushed to expel gas into space.

J. Plasma Venting
In the event of an emergency, Federation Starships are able to dump the plasma overboard to facilitate the fastest possible
shutdown of the main power system. The system differs from ship to ship; on a Galaxy class vessel each nacelle has a single
plasma vent below the plasma injectors, whilst on the newer Intrepid class plasma can be vented from the entire length of the
nacelle simultaneously.

Waste Management Systems

Most large deep-space vehicles sustain closed ecological systems for environmental support, smaller vessels echo this, but in a
more short-term manner. Unlike a planetary eco-system, a starship uses technological systems to approximate the complex
ecological processes which sustain life. Among these processes is the Starship's waste managnement system, which recycles
almost all waste produced.

Water and Sewage Recycling
Each Starfleet crew-member typically generates 52 litres of wastewater and sewage per day. This waste is pumped to recycling
units housed in environment support complexes. Preliminary treatment is by a series of mechanical filtration processes that
remove solids and particulates (Residue is conveyed to the solid waste processing units for further treatment). Osmotic and
electrolytic fractioning is then used to remove dissolved and microscopic contaminants for treatment and recycling. The water left
is heated to 150 degrees centigrade for biological sterilisation before being subjected to a final mechanical filtration stage. The
water is then returned to one of the storage tanks for use.

Solid Waste Recycling
Solid waste such as trash is conveyed to processing units by means of linear induction utility conduits. Incoming solid waste is
automatically scanned and classified as to type and composition. Item that can be recycled with mechanical reprocessing are
separted. Such items, which constitute aproximately 82% of all solid waste include articles of clothing, packaging and other
discarded containers and small personal articles. These items are conveyed to a series of dedicated processors that first sterilise
the waste products, then reduce them to a recyclable form (such as processed fiber packets from which uniforms and other
garments are fabricated). Hazardous materials (such as toxic, biohazard and radioactive substances) are separated, and then the
remaining unrecoverable material is stored for matter replication recycling.

Matter Replication Recycling
Material that cannot be directly recycled by mechanical or chemical methods is stored for matter replication recycling. This is
accomplished by molecular matrix replicators that actually dematerialise the waste materials and rematerialose them in the form
of desired objects stored in computer memory. While this process provides an enormous variety of useful items, it is very energy
intensive and many everyday consumables (such as water and clothing) are recycled by less energy intensive means. Certain
consumables (such as food) are routinely recycled using matter replication because this results in a considerable saving in raw
materials storage.

Hazardous Waste Recycling
Approximately 5% of all liquid and solid wastes are considered to be hazardous materials under toxicity, reactivity, biohazard or
radioactivity standards. Such materials are separated from other waste materials and are immediately diverted to a matter
replicator, which converts them to inert carbon particles. This material is then stored for matter replication recycling.