Jump Link Drive

Warp drive, jump drive, warp generator

A fixture for enabling individual spacecraft to bore warp tunnels for the purposes of free jumping.

Jump link drives are not altogether very rare, though their presence on spacecrafts is usually reserved for large and important crafts due to the complexity of their operation and the expensive nature of their acquisition.

The jump link drive works by manipulating gravitational forces around the drive (typically tuned to encapsulate an entire spacecraft). With sufficient energy input, the jump drive can bore a wormhole from the jump drive's location to an input destination, allowing for near-instantaneous travel once linked.

Warp gates such as those developed by the Tesserians work on a similar principle, but have the advantage of being permanently installed and dedicated to maintaining exceptionally stable links. Jump link drives are intended more for the transportational freedom of whatever ship they're aboard, however the warps they establish collapse very quickly after use.

Jump link drives can be used (upon hailing a local gate) to jump to established warp gates or to designated safe warp sectors nearby particular star systems, however one of the main appeals of having a jump link drive present on a ship is the ability to warp anywhere that a pilot can navigate to. The prospect of "free jumping" is controversial, as it is a particularly good way of exploring the galaxy at a much more rapid pace than without, but between the energy required, the precision necessary, and the risks involved, it is not a procedure to be executed lightly.

Jump link drives enable spacecraft to warp jump without the use of a gated tunnel. This practice is referred to as "free-jumping," and while it can be convenient and useful, it is highly dangerous and requires a lot of skill. Such jumping is highly restricted, as the "wake" left by a warping craft can be damaging to things too nearby at the time, and precise exits are difficult to finesse.