This charge steadily increases with the amount of time a vessel spends in FTL. When travelling across space, thrusters are applied in one direction for the first half of the trip, then the thrusters are reversed for the second half of the trip in order to reach appropriate speeds for arriving.Įlement zero FTL drives accumulate a static electrical charge when a vessel has been in FTL flight for some time. In general, the larger the drive, the longer the ship can run at FTL.
The precise maximum speed and the time this acceleration can be maintained varies depending on the exact type of FTL drive being used. With a mass effect drive, roughly a dozen light-years can be traversed in the course of a day's cruise without bending space-time and causing time dilation. It reduces the mass of an object, such as a starship, to a point where velocities faster than the speed of light are possible. FTL drive cores work by exposing element zero to electric currents, creating mass effect fields.
FTL drives are devices which allow ships to travel at FTL speeds through space.
