AMPHIBIOUS DRIVE



   The SwimmerThrust drive is a heavily modified variant of Rendili StarDrive's highly illegal WhisperThrust baffled drive.  Where the Whisper is used for stealth flight in realspace by stealth military ships as well as smugglers and pirates who acquired the drive illicitly, the Swimmer is used to allow a ship to enter hydrosphere environments (oceans, lakes, rivers, spaceborne bodies of water, etc) and "fly" underwater.  Marketed as a technology furthering exploration, it is used by many universities and exploration corps across the galaxy (the University of Sambra has made use of such drives in their ships for some time).  This makes the drive legally available on the open market to civilian ship owners and organizations.

   However, while the exploration angle makes the Swimmer legally available to civilian parties, groups of scum and villainy still find ways to use such drives to further their agendas.  One example is for such groups to establish a base underwater, only accessible by use of submersible vehicles or ships equipped with Swimmer drives.  If the base is deep enough in the water, even capital ship turbolaser discharges will diffuse and lose their effectiveness before reaching said base.

   What allows the drive to work is the fact that since ships are built to handle the rigors of space travel, and often space combat as well, they usually are already built to handle submersible travel as well.  While many starships are not "hydrodynamic", they often are not aerodynamic either, yet still manage just fine due to use of repulsorlift technology.



Model: Rendili StarDrive SwimmerThrust
Type: Amphibious starship drive
Scale: Starfighter
Cost:
-Drive: 50,000 credits
-Structural Reinforcement:
+1D: 2,000 credits
+2D: 5,000 credits
+3D: 10,000 credits
Weight:
-Drive: 20 metric tons
-Structural Reinforcement:
+1D: 2 metric tons
+2D: 4 metric tons
+3D: 8 metric tons
Availability: 4, R

GAME NOTES:

   The drive allows a ship to move through water and similar hydrosphere environments at Space Speed 2 (Atmosphere Speed 225; 650kmh).  If using an underwater environment to hide and be stealthy, the modifiers for stealth and detection are effectively the same as the Whisper baffled drive.  Cautious movement is no more detectable than drifting through the water; Cruise movement adds +5 to the sensor operator's roll; High Speed adds +10; All-Out movement adds +15.  However, due to the nature of moving through water, and this drive being rather fast for a submersible vehicle, these bonuses to sensor operators trying to detect the ship also apply as Difficulty increase modifiers to the ship's pilot.

   Unlike the WhisperThrust, the SwimmerThrust drive does not use gases for its propulsion through water.  Instead, it has an array of moving components such as impellers and the machinery to turn these and move the ship through water.  This is powered by the ship's power source, which does not require nearly as much power as its sublight engines and hyperdrive.  However, the faster the ship moves, the more noise it makes, which makes it more easily detectable to sensor operators looking for the ship in underwater environments.  The original WhisperThrust's gas storage tanks can be used as hydraulic power to turn the impellers, though they have the same limitations of only moving so far before running out of fuel, but at x2 (Move 200 spatial units (20 kilometers).  Extra gas tanks can be added at 7,000 credits and 2 metric tons per tank.  Since this gas is used underwater and doesn't need to be cooled, refueling doesn't need to be as specific, and other gases can be used (there may even be variants that use liquid hydraulic power, or even possess intakes to use the surrounding water for hydraulic power).

   Installation cost of the SwimmerThrust drive also includes installation of "Sealed Bulkheads", bulkheads and panels that will close off sensitive components of the ship that could be affected by the water.  This includes engine thrusters, sensors, shield emitters and other external components not kept safe by the ship's sealed environment within the hull.  Components not protected should not be exposed to water for too long, and be given proper maintenance after leaving the watery environment.  Not doing so will allow corrosion to set in and degrade these components more quickly over time.

   Ships traveling underwater are able to reach a depth of 500 meters per Hull Die (+100 meters per pip).  The ship's shields (specifically, their particle shields) can be activated to allow the ship to reach even deeper, but beware of the corrosion effects stated above.

   If starfighter scale energy weapons are used to attack the ship from above water, they lose 1D of effectiveness per 100 meters of water (20 meters per pip).  Capital scale weapons increase this range x3.

   A ship can have its hull reinforced to reach deeper depths: +1D/500 meters at 2,000 credits, and 2 metric tons; +2D/1,000 meters at 5,000 credits, and 4 metric tons; +3D/1,500 meters at 10,000 credits, and 8 metric tons; due to technology standards and limitations, further reinforcement is not possible at this time.  This reinforcement is for making the hull more resistant to pressure but does not make it more resistant to damage from starship combat, in or out of the water.



Availability Chart:

1 - Readily available throughout the galaxy.
2 - Available only in large cities or spaceports.
3 - Specialized item, normally available only on planet of origin.
4 - Rare item, difficult to find anywhere.
F - Fee or permit often required for purchase.
R - Restricted on most planets, and normally may not be bought or sold without appropriate Imperial or other relevant license.
X - Illegal on most planets.  Possession or use often violates Imperial or local laws except for specially authorized individuals; penalties may be severe.