Guide To Engineering

Engineering is a crucial part of any starship. Use this guide to enhance your familiarity with general engineering concepts (e.g. Reactors, FTL Drives, Life Support Systems etc.). Like all other wiki content, the content here is not required to follow, and you are not required to follow if someone imposes it upon you. Content paragraphs throughout this guide will be cut frequently in order to make it easier to read.

Repair and Hazard Response

Tools and Equipment

Engineers employ a variety of tools and equipment for repairing the ship in events such as malfunctions or emergencies or wearing to protect oneself. These tools can range in application from device repair, hull repair and plating, and atmospheric technical work. A table of applicable tools is shown below alongside the engineering ratings which would use them, though any engineer may employ any tool depending on the situation.

Tools


Name	Manual/Automatic	Applicable Rating	Function
Basic Kit (Screwdriver, Wirecutter, Wrench, Wirecoil and Crowbar)	Manual	Engineering Technician, All	A kit of basic tools applicable for the widest variety. Screwdrivers for opening maintenance panels on electronic devices or repair, wirecutters for fixing circuits and electronic systems, wrenches for deconstructing, constructing and repairing various pieces of hardware, and crowbars for prying any manner of object. Also comes with a coil of wire of various voltage.
Welding Gun	Automatic		A heavy welding gun that utilises ignited fuel to heat and weld metal. Vital in creating hull platings in the event of breaches, or can alternatively be used to weld doors shut, though it is not legally recommended to do so.
Hand Drill			A typical hand drill that can be used in place of wrenches or screwdrivers. Drill bit can be changed depending on the bolt or screw being unscrewed or unbolted, and possesses a rechargeable battery. Typically very heavy.
Multitool		Information Systems Technician, Engineering Technician, All	A handheld wire pulse device that is used for repairing and altering electronic devices without having to cut and damage wiring. Can be pressed against fire to pulse it with electricity with a variety of settings put into the multitool itself in order to perform a diagnostic or alter the device. Can also be used for hacking devices or checking how much power is going through a cable.
Link Device		Information Systems Technician, Engineering Technician, All	A derivative of the multitool which allows for remote activation of electronic devices. By linking an electronic device to the Link Device using the same wire pulsing method as the multitool, it allows the user to remotely activate, deactivate or otherwise trigger the device remotely using the link device. Typically can only make one link at a time, but 'overclocked' link devices exist but can be unreliable.
Hull Sealant	Manual	Damage Control Technician, Engineering Technician, All, Crewmate	A quick-drying and sealing foam which can be used to close punctures and gaps in the hull. Use alongside some form of hull plating (such as hull plating proper or anything that can cover the gap) and affix in place by binding the edges of the plating to the hull with sealant. Available anywhere on the ship and can be used by crewmembers.
Atmospheric Analyser	Automatic	Atmospheric Technician, Engineering Technician	A handheld analyzer which can take samples and scan the atmospheric composition of an enclosed space and provide information such as chemical makeup, temperature and pressure. Can also be used to locate the source of a hull breach.
Terrahertz Radiation Imaging Scanner		Engineering Technician, All	A handheld scanner, known colloquially as t-ray scanners that identify and differentiate different wiring instances through plating and solid material. Used to locate wires of different types and follow them to their source or to find where they are malfunctioning.
Fire Extinguisher		Damage Control Technician, Engineering Technician, All, Crewmate	A fire extinguisher that uses AFFF foam to cover and put out fires. Available to all crew in firewatch stations and to engineering staff.
Hardlight Projector		Technical Officer	A hardlight projector that can be used instead of inflatable barricades to great effect. Scans the surrounding area to create a box, isolating atmosphere and pressure on either side of the box and allowing everything else to move through it seamlessly. Handheld hardlight projectors are not as practical as inflatable barricades, so this tool is only available to the Chief Engineer who can give it out to engineers or use it themselves.
JOL3 Masterkey		Technical Officer	JOL3s, also known as Masterkeys or Jaws of Life, are devices used to open bulkheads, firelocks or locked doors through either prying or hacking without the need of exhaustive process. Only engineering technical officers (i.e. the Chief of Engineering) are authorised to use masterkeys as they are able to open any door, and also because using masterkeys damages door hydraulics.

Equipment

Name	Wear/Material	Applicable Rating	Function
Welding Goggles/Mask	Wear	Engineering Technician, All	A pair of goggles or mask which protect the eyes from the extremely bright light of a welding tool. Only employed when without a hardsuit, and not needed when using a hardsuit as all hardsuit helmets have protection for such.
Gas Mask			A mask that allows one to protect their face and also connect to an oxygen tank. Can be used to breathe easy in the event of an atmospheric emergency. Much like the welding protection, it's function is, naturally, consolidated into the engineering hardsuit.
Hard Hat			Protects the head alongside usually providing a headlamp. Useful in the absence of a hardsuit.
Insulated Gloves			A pair of gloves which are rated to protect against electricity. Should always be worn and never given out when asked for.
Magnetic Boots			Magnetic Boots, colloquially known as magboots, are used to keep one firmly affixed to the floor of a ship in the event of a fault in gravity. Can be activated either remotely or by pressing the heels together. Built into hardsuits.
Inflatable Wall	Material	Damage Control Technician, Engineering Technician, All	A folded membrane that rapidly expands and inflates into a wall upon activation, done by pulling a tab on the side of the folded inflatable wall. The membrane binds itself automatically to surfaces, but engineers are still required to reinforce the seal with hull sealant. Used to enclose areas around major hull breaches for maintenance. Can be reused.
Inflatable Airlock			A variation of the inflatable wall which requires more setup in order to create a functioning airlock. Practically the same process otherwise. Can be reused.
Portable Air Scrubber			Portable Air Scrubbers (PAS) are wheeled, portable devices which can be brought into rooms to scrub the atmospheric contents for any gas leaks or other abnormalities in the room's atmospheric makeup. Alongside being able to scrub an entire room, it also shows what it had scrubbed. Must be emptied afterwards.
Hull Plating			Sheets of metal and other material designed to patch holes in the hull of a ship and remain there for long periods with a lower likelihood of breaking, faulting or being easily removed until the hull can be properly repaired.
Engineering Hardsuit	Wear	All	The most important piece of equipment to an engineer of any rating, the Engineering Hardsuit possesses the typical comfort, insulation, atmospheric and temperature control systems, magboots, protective outer shell and more alongside having various integrated components, such as bright light protection in the optical components, specialised integrated PDA, specialised protection against electricity, heat and radiation, making it surprisingly defensive against laser weapons. Hardsuits are worn in any and all situations where the unprotected human body would be at risk, providing all fields of protection to engineers.

Hull Breach Procedure

Hull breaches can occur onboard a ship for a variety of reasons - micrometeorites, bombings, or scientific experiments. A common misconception about hull breaches is that they always violently suck everything out into the vacuum of space through any hole - this is only true under certain circumstances. A gigantic hole larger than a human person will suck the interior of a room into space due to the large difference of pressure. Smaller holes won't, but will quickly deplete a room of it's atmosphere. There are two different categories of hull breaches: a minor breach, which is a hole smaller than 2 metres by 2 metre, and a major breach, which is anything larger than a minor breach. Being that minor breaches can still quickly deplete a room of atmosphere, they are not to be considered 'less dangerous' than major breaches and should be treated with the same urgency.

The following is the process in which engineers are to respond to minor hull breaches.

Announce the breach and evacuate the room of all crew. Depending on the severity of the hull breach, one can either drop firelocks before evacuating personnel out of the room through a manually opened firelock, or evacuate all personnel then lower firelocks. Either way, only engineers should be permitted in a room with a hull breach. The ship will be under Condition Orange during this time.
Enclose the hull breach. Use inflatable walls and airlocks to enclose the area around the hull breach while in a hardsuit. During this time, atmospheric technicians can begin to restore the atmosphere in the room while the hull breach is isolated.
Begin plating the hull breach. Use hull plates and a welding tool to cover the breach. This will work for a temporary cover of the breach until a more exhaustive repair operation of the hull and all it's layers can proceed.
Remove the inflatable walls and wait until the room's atmosphere is restored. During this time, the room can be checked for any damaged equipment and a general damage report can be written up.
Release firelocks and re-open room. From here on, crew can continue as normal, but are encouraged to keep a close eye on the plating for any unlikely faults.

The following is the process in which engineers are to respond to major hull breaches.#Announce the breach and evacuate the room of all crew. The crew should be evacuated out of the breached room and any rooms surrounding it, all of which will automatically have firelocks lowered as soon as a major hull breach is detected by the ship's diagnostic systems. The surrounding rooms are isolated to be used as a staging ground for engineering. All involved engineering staff should be wearing hardsuits. The ship will be under Condition Orange during this time.

Prepare an extravehicular sortie. A sortie of hardsuit-equipped engineering staff with hull repair tools and materials, and maintenance skiffs if included on the ship, are to be prepared to aid in the repair on the outside. Another group will be on the inside of the hull.
Contact security. Either to locate the source of the hull breach or to regulate crew during the lockdown procedure, contact security to mobilise a number of Master-at-Arms.
Begin repair procedure. A longer process, the two sorties of engineering staff will begin to patch the hull breach layer by layer, also repairing any damaged system that moved through that section of the hull. This may take multiple hours to perform, and may require another, more exhaustive repair at a shipyard.
Restore atmosphere and remove engineering equipment. Engineers are to begin packing up from the staging grounds and the hull breach, performing a total damage assessment and preparing the area for continued operation. During this time, atmospheric technicians are to restore the atmosphere in the affected areas.
Re-open the area. Crew may resume activity and report any abnormalities from hereon.

Power Outage Procedure

Power outages can occur as a result of solar storms, machinery malfunctions, grid overload or enemy attacks. The response procedure for restoring operation to the reactor is listed under the reactor section of the guide, and this section is dedicated to responding to a power outage in the rest of the ship.

Activate auxiliary power if possible. If the ship does not automatically activate auxiliary power, attempt to do so manually. If this does not work, crew will notice and begin to equip emergency equipment such as emergency softsuits, oxygen tanks and assemble in muster zones. Engineering and security are to guide staff during this time. The ship will be under Condition Orange during this time.
Ensure all crew are equipped. While most engineering staff prepare for the next steps, some engineers alongside security perform a sweep of the ship to ensure all crew are accounted for and assembled in muster areas.
Begin assessment of the source of power failure. While most engineers move on to step 4, some engineers will stay in engineering to attempt to use the diagnostic systems or manually find the source of the power failure. These engineers will remain for the majority of the outage to attempt to repair the power at the source.
Assess damaged electronic equipment. If auxiliary power is active, then the diagnostic systems will still be active and engineering will be able to perform a diagnostic assessment of all the responsive electronic equipment on the ship to figure out what systems are damaged. Otherwise, engineering staff will have to use multitools and portable batteries to check equipment and perform a manual damage assessment.
Complete damage assessment and begin repairing any damaged equipment. While security regulates the crew, engineers not handling the power systems at their core will begin to repair any damaged electrical systems. If auxiliary power is active, then power will be temporarily cut to the APCs (Area Power Controllers) of any rooms with damaged equipment so engineering may go in and repair them. If auxiliary power is inactive, then they will proceed with repairs either way.
Finish repair and return to engineering or remain. When all repairs are complete, any needed engineers are to return to engineering to assist in reactivating all power systems, while a smaller few will remain to ensure nothing was missed and assist security.
Wait. Wait for the rest of engineering to reactivate power systems.
Perform an operational assessment and diagnosis when power systems return. Ensure that all previously repaired systems operate as normal and no other abnormalities have shown up using the diagnostic systems, then begin to return crew to normal under Condition Orange.
If the ship's power grid is no longer operational; assist security and begin to ferry crew onto small craft and prepare for them to be picked up by a rescue boat or other vessel. Meanwhile, send a distress beacon out if possible alerting nearby Sol Defence Corps vessels or civilian ships of the vessel's state.

Atmospheric Emergency Procedure

Atmospheric Emergencies are differentiated from atmospheric emergencies related to hull breaches by two main classifications: leaks and contaminations. Leaks are defined as atmospheric emergencies where a toxin or abnormality in atmosphere has appeared in one or more rooms, caused by gas leaks, breakout of toxic gas through various means such as science or gas attacks, or other. Contaminations are defined as atmospheric emergencies where the atmospheric network has been compromised by an introduction of unwelcome and usually toxic gas or material into the atmospheric network of the ship. All atmospheric emergencies are to be handled by qualified Atmospheric Technicians.

The following is the process in which atmospheric technicians are to respond to leaks.

Announce the leak, evacuate all crew and lower firelocks on affected rooms. Firelocks are likely to be automatically lowered upon detection of an abnormality in the air filter, and crew are to find oxygen tanks and rebreathers. Atmospheric Technicians and security are to help evacuate crew from the area during this time through inflatable airlocks. The ship will be under Condition Orange during this time.
Disable filtering and scrubber systems in affected rooms. To prevent any material from passing through the air filtering system and being reintroduced into the atmospheric network, shut off the filters and scrubbers in all affected rooms.
Enter affected rooms with hardsuits or firesuits with a portable air scrubber. One or more portable air scrubbers depending on the severity of the situation, atmospheric technicians are to monitor the atmospheric makeup of the room and wait for the portable scrubbers to clean the environment. During this time, the room may also be optionally ventilated of atmosphere, though this is not always necessary.
If the room has been ventilated, restore atmosphere. If not, move onto step 5.
Perform final checks and release firelocks. A final diagnostic of the atmosphere is to be performed before atmospheric technicians may leave the area and air filtering systems may be reactivated.

The following is the process in which atmospheric technicians are to respond to contaminations.

Announce the contamination of the atmospheric network. The ship is to be placed under Condition Orange and all crew are to find portable oxygen tanks and gather in muster zones with the assistance of security.
Turn air filtration systems to maximum operation. The air filtration systems will be turned to maximum operating capacity to attempt to scrub all atmosphere of contaminants. Diagnostic systems will monitor the atmospheric makeup of different areas of the ship while technicians conduct assessments themselves with portable air scrubbers.
Perform a diagnostic of oxygen and nitrogen supplies. If abnormalities are found within the oxygen and nitrogen supplies themselves after the entire ship has been successfully scrubbed, perform an additional scrub of the tanks until it is safe to resume atmospherics.
Allow scrubbers to continue for 40 minutes. After the initial process, which can take any amount of time, continue for 30-40 minutes while systems say atmosphere is nominal until lowering air filtration systems back to normal operating capacity.
Allow crew to return to their stations. The ship will remain in Condition Orange for another 40 minutes, but crew may continue operating at this time. From hereon, security will begin an investigation of the atmospheric system's contamination.

Fire Suppression Procedure

Fires are one of the most severe dangers on a ship - oxygen is incredibly valuable and somewhat scarce on a starship, and a fire will quickly deprive a room of oxygen and turn it into smoke. Fire Suppression systems do the bulk of the work in the event of fire suppression, but it remains the job of engineering to make sure everything is intact. Fire suppression is a job typically undertaken by Damage Control Technicians and Atmospheric Technicians.

The following is the process in which engineers are to respond to contaminations.

Announce the fire and evacuate all personnel from the immediate area as fire suppression systems begin to work. Fire suppression systems will kick in with sprays and increased air scrubbing. Fire suppression systems take a moment to kick in but can be manually activated with a switch located in every room, giving crew a small amount of time to evacuate a room before firelocks lower. Engineering and security are to help crew evacuate during this time. The ship will be under Condition Orange.
Assess the effectiveness of the fire suppression systems. If the affected rooms have been successfully restored to optimal atmosphere and there are no longer any fires, then engineers may move onto a damage assessment in step 4 while atmospheric systems balance out. Otherwise, move onto step 3.
Enter the room and begin to suppress the fire further. Use fire extinguishers and either hardsuits or firesuits to protect oneself and suppress any still-raging fires. Atmospheric Technicians may bring portable air scrubbers if the room's filters did not work. Clean up any remaining AFFF foam and then move onto the damage assessment.
Begin a damage assessment. Engineers are to enter affected rooms and perform a thorough damage assessment of all equipment damaged by the fire. Afterwards, Damage Control Technicians can move in and begin to repair any damage dealt by the fire. Until the room is considered operational, crew must work elsewhere until it is.

Basic Systems

Any starship is comprised of some standard systems that are essential to its functioning. Some of these include the FTL Drives, the Life Support Systems and its power source. The power source could be many things, from fusion to basic diesel generators. The most common type of power generation you are most likely to find is fusion.

All mainline SDC fleet ships contain a basic life support system that produces the ship's oxygen that is essential for the life of every organism on board the ship. Along with that, life support systems include a water treatment centre which function's as the ship's main water source. A fusion reactor heats and pressurizes hydrogen and its isotopes, causing them to fuse, in order to generate electricity, and FTL drives combine dark matter and normal matter with a catalyst material in order to create exotic matter, which is emitted to form a bubble around the ship and facilitate faster-than-light travel.

Life Support Systems

Normal Operations

This is a checklist to follow in order to ensure that the system is operating under normal conditions. This checklist is essential to ensuring that the system is working correctly. Normally, an engineer would be needed to go over this checklist every 4 days.

Life Support Operations Checklist
Water Regulations
Pipe Pressure	60-80 PSI
Water Enrichment Level	0 - 1 Bacteria Detected After Enrichment
Filter Condition	Good - Perfect
General Water Level	125,663.71 Liters
Atmosphere Regulations
Air Pressure	1013.25 Mbar
Air Formula	N₂O₂
Air Flow	101.3 kPa

Startup Operations

Assuming that for some reason the system has performed an emergency shutdown, you will be required to bring it back to life.

Firstly, perform a pre-startup check. You can find that by navigating to the startup section of your local Life Support system terminal. In this case, the above checklist is rendered useless because there is no data to show. Instead, the table that is supposed to be monitoring the system will only show "Insufficient Data". You will need to enter the console and type > lfs precheck -isd what that will do is perform a check on all the relevant systems and take into consideration that it is currently not receiving any data.If you forget to add the -isd the check will instead return > Check fail: Data could not be retrieved.

After the check the system should return > Check Complete: All systems ready. Now, all that is left to do is to make sure that when the system starts up no valves will be closed. Thus, you need to inspect the piping all the way up to the wall separating the engineering section of the ship to the rest of it. This part is the one that is most likely to have a valve closed either to prevent an error or for general maintenance ^{(REMEMBER: Even if the valves in engineering are at their correct positions, an emergency shut-off valve could have been turned anywhere else in the ship thus preventing the system from functioning normally)}.

After the check is complete you are now ready to start up the system. There are two types of startups you can initiate. You can either initiate an automatic startup or a manual startup. If no errors have come up, it is best recommended that you do an automatic startup. This way the system will configure everything and have the system up and running in no more than 2 minutes.

System Maintenance

System maintenance should be carried out every 4 months. A typical maintenance procedure will require the pipes to be flushed with a cleaning liquid (Most likely SCL-200 (Standard Cleaning Liquid-200) which is the typical liquid almost all ships are equipped with), will require a replacement of the air filters located in the Primary Air Flow Unit and a check-up on the water enrichment tanks due to residue sometimes accumulating on their internal walls.

To begin the procedure, a ship-wide announcement should be made 20 minutes prior. Once the 20 minute buffer zone has passed the system must be put in maintenance mode. This can be achieved by inputting > lfs maintenance -start into the Life Support terminal console. After this, air flow will be switched to the auxiliary pumps and filters, almost all of the water circulation and enrichment system will shutdown except for any water operations intended for cooling any machinery.

Once the maintenance start procedure is completed by the system, 2 beeps will be heard from the console that the command was activated from ensuring the engineers that the system is now ready for maintenance. After that, you can complete the maintenance checklist.

Air System Maintenance
Life Support System Maintenance
Replacement of Primary Air filters
Flushing of primary air ducts with high pressure air to remove dust
Water System Maintenance
Check-up of water enrichment tanks
Flushing of water pipes with SCL-200
Re-filling of water reserve

Remember that when you and your fellow engineers have completed the maintenance checklists, run > lfs maintenance -stop otherwise the system will keep functioning on a reduced capacity which might cause issues later on.

Water Treatment Protocols

During starship water treatment, procedures closely align with established standards, yet incorporate some differences. The ensuing breakdown is broken down to the five-step process integral to maintaining a robust and sustainable water recycling system.

Step 1: Coagulation: This initial phase entails the introduction of specific chemicals—such as salts, aluminum, or iron—into untreated water. These chemicals, possessing a positive charge, serve to neutralize negatively charged particles within the water, mitigating potential harm. The amalgamation of water particles with these introduced chemicals results in the formation of larger aggregates. Coagulation unfolds systematically through the infusion of water with chemicals and subsequent mixing within a designated water tank.

Step 2: Flocculation: Analogous to coagulation, flocculation seeks a different objective: fostering the formation of larger water particles, termed flocs, within the previously treated water. Supplementary chemicals may be introduced to facilitate this process. Flocculation transpires within a specially designated water tank featuring a centrally positioned mixer.

Step 3: Sedimentation: Sedimentation hinges significantly upon the flocs generated during flocculation. Owing to their augmented mass, flocs naturally descend to the bottom of the water tanks, facilitating the separation of solid particulates from the treated water. This pivotal phase is orchestrated by placing the treated water in a capacious tank, wherein sensors detect and eliminate solid impurities, such as minute particles of dirt.

Step 4: Filtration: In the context of starship water recycling, conventional methodologies yield to the specialized process of Reverse Osmosis/Nanofiltration. This method involves propelling the treated water through semi-permeable membranes, effecting separation at a molecular level based on the substances' molecular weight. A notable quantity of water is expelled as "concentrate" or "reject" due to its retained high molecular weight, thereby containing undesired substances. This innovative filtration process ensures the removal of impurities from the recycled water.

Final Step: Disinfection: Concluding the water purification sequence, minimal quantities of disinfectants—such as chlorine or chlorine dioxide—are judiciously introduced into the treated water. This final measure eradicates any residual contaminants, upholding the stringent standards for water quality on starships. Notably, on starships, these disinfectants are systematically extracted before the water is released from the purification facility, primarily due to the lack of need for extensive travel distances to its intended destination.

Atmospheric Procedures

The technological methodologies employed by spaceships for air circulation and filtration have striking resemblances to the technology utilized in conventional nuclear submarines. The primary components include a central air recycling facility integrated with fans equipped with electrostatic capacitors. This configuration incorporates an electrostatic filtration mechanism to effectively filter aerosols and particulates. Subsequently, the air undergoes transmission into the ventilation system.

Noteworthy is the incorporation of specialized carbon filters strategically positioned within the confines of kitchens and bathrooms. The deployment of these filters is designed with the specific objective of mitigating and dissipating odors. This targeted approach ensures a sanitary environment within the enclosed spaces of the spacecraft.

Carbon dioxide in the air is filtered into a solid oxide electrolyser assembly, where it is heated up to 800°C and electrified, being broken down into carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen (O₂). The carbon monoxide is then further recycled: it is combined with hydrogen gas from the ship's fuel storage and then heated to 1000°C. It is then passed over several substrate layers in a filtration stage, where the hot carbon monoxide breaks down and deposits carbon molecules onto the substrates via chemical vapour deposition, forming graphene layers, while converting the CO gas into oxygen. These layers can be periodically extracted and cleaned by maintenance personnel, where the carbon can be used for manufacturing.

FTL Drive

Startup Operations

The following section will cover the startup procedure required in order to execute a jump to the desired destination. The procedure is formed of 4 crucial steps; Pre-Jump Checks, to ensure that all component systems of the Alcubierre faster-than-light travel system are operating properly, Route Planning, to create a safe waypoint route to the end location, Drive Charging, and Warp Execution. Operations related to the FTL drive are usually undertaken by engineers with the Drive Technician (DT) rating.

For background, an Alcubierre faster-than-light travel system is comprised of 7 parts (DISCLAIMER: There is no FTL drive in the game the map, but you can either perform computer diagnostics or NPC a drive ingame.). The drive does not possess it's own battery array and feeds directly from the reactor. The parts are as follows:

Component Name	Internal/External	Description
Matter Repositories	Internal	A set of large tanks containing dark matter and normal matter encased in an additional shell to keep the interior tank chilled, with the dark matter tanks surrounded by rings of electromagnetic coils on the outside. The interior tank is kept in a state of near-absolute vacuum surrounded by a chilled exterior to keep the matter inside in a constant, unchanged state so it may be used for the refinery process. Dark matter and normal matter (usually in the form of hydrogen) are either manually inserted into the repository tanks on routine refills, or can be kept topped off with the use of ramscoops on self-sufficient models. Only dark matter tanks require an array of electromagnetic coils on the outside.
Catalyst Repositories		Smaller and fewer repositories of catalyst materials. The most commonly used catalysts are antimatter and astatine, which are introduced into the refinery unit alongside dark matter and normal matter. They are required in far less concentration than the other components of the process and therefore their units are much smaller. On self-sufficient drives, the repositories for catalyst are much larger and more numerous as astatine and dark matter cannot be as easily procured as dark matter and normal matter.
Transit Tubes		The contents of the tanks are transferred between ramscoops and refinery tanks using a slight difference in pressure within the transit tubes. These feed dark matter and normal matter from their repositories to the main refinery unit, and feed matter either from the outside of the ship via ramscoops or into the tanks via fuelling modules.
Pressure Tanks		A set of large tanks full of air that is used to pressurise the interior of the Refinery Unit.
Refinery Unit		The central unit of the drive, and most commonly referred to as the drive itself. A large, spherical chamber with structural supports surrounding it alongside a large array of electromagnetic coils and multiple transit tubes to feed in dark matter, normal matter and catalyst. The transit tubes feed into airlocks which store a certain volume of each type of matter at a time, introducing precise amounts of each into the main refinery unit one after the other before letting in the next batch, creating exotic matter via the interaction of the different types of matter in the refinery unit under the pressure and conditions within the sphere. When exotic matter is successfully created, it must be immediately jettisoned outside of the ship to create a warp bubble through the ship's exotic matter emitters, or to get rid of it for any other reason, and cannot be stored. Afterwards, the refinery chamber is repressurised and prepared for another batch.
Ramscoops	External	An array of intakes on the outer hull of a ship which uses magnetism and ramscooping to pull in hydrogen and dark matter from surrounding space. Matter captured by ramscoops is separated into dark matter, normal matter and unwanted matter, which are then sealed inside airlocks and then fed into the repositories, while any unwanted material is jettisoned back out. Ramscoops are not as efficient as routine refuelling, but perform well in creating a self-sufficient drive for long distances.
Exotic Matter Emitters	External	Also known as just emitters or EMEs, exotic matter emitters are small ventilation chutes which release exotic matter as they are fed through the emission system from the refinery unit and out into space surrounding the ship. Using a constant and equal emission, the tachyon-type exotic matter will naturally take the form of a warp bubble and will only begin to move an instance of space once it has created an enclosed warp bubble. Exotic matter emitters must be constantly outputting exotic matter for the entire duration of a transit, though by heightening the volume of refinery, a ship is able to release the strain on the drive's systems by intermittently giving it rest by giving the warp bubble an extra amount of exotic matter for it to eventually waste.

Pre-Jump Checks

The following checklist must be followed every ten jump cycles or after serious emergencies and combat situations.

Ensure hull integrity has not been compromised. This can be done through a system scan and diagnosis alongside a physical check of hull integrity using extravehicular means such as hardsuits or maintenance skiffs operated by engineering personnel, but in combat scenarios will often be reduced to only a scan and diagnosis, granted there are no issues with the hull.

Set Navigation Computer and Main Control Computer to self-diagnostics mode. This should be an extremely brief self-diagnosis of the control systems and should take no more than four minutes. If the self diagnosis presents any issues, the jump sequence should be halted or otherwise stopped entirely as to ensure the automatic route plotting system does not malfunction which can lead to the ship's total destruction. In more dire circumstances, a navigator may manually plot a route, but issues with the plotting system may still present issues, so this should only be done in dire circumstances.

Change the Supercapacitor setting to TEST. The modules will attempt to charge and discharge. These supercapacitors must be operational in order to power the function of the DMHS. If they are not, then the jump sequence cannot physically continue - emitters can still be extended and ramscoops can be covered, but they will not do anything unless the handling system is operational and fabricating exotic matter.

Check the structural integrity of the Dark Matter Handling storage tank. The Dark Matter Handling tank should always be in optimal condition, otherwise the refinery process may malfunction if the dark matter is not stored, stabilised and fed through the system properly. A leak of dark matter is completely harmless, but if the refinery process malfunctions, it may severely damage the entire handling system. Engineering crew are responsible for checking the structural integrity of the dark matter tank.

Ensure electromagnets are operational and synchronized. These are important for facilitating the refinery process and also ensuring no malfunctions in the refinery process. If the electromagnets are inoperable, the refinery process cannot take place, which will waste hydrogen, dark matter and catalyst, but if the electromagnets are malfunctioning, it may lead to the refinery's operation malfunctioning which could lead to the fabrication of the wrong type of exotic matter, or exotic matter leakage, which can be disastrous.

Set FTL Sensor Array to self-diagnostics mode. Safety covers should open and close three times, before the proximity alarm sounds. The FTL speed indicator should display the maximum speed of 250c and slowly decrease. The FTL Sensor Array is necessary for preemptively discovering obstacles on the jump's course such as asteroids, planets, solar flares that may damage electronic systems or the warp bubble, or other potential threats to the jump sequence.

Change the Conversion Unit setting to TEST. A preliminary system diagnosis will occur to ensure no glaring issues in the conversion unit, then a small amount of dark matter, hydrogen and catalyst will be converted to ensure the conversion unit is operating properly. If the system diagnosis presents any issues, the minor conversion will not occur, and the test sequence must be restarted.

Activate the Exotic Matter Emitter System TEST setting. After a preliminary diagnosis, exotic matter emitters will be extended from the hull of the ship to first ensure all emitters are functioning. If two or more emitters are malfunctioning, the system will automatically stop. However, the emitter network can operate without one functioning emitter, but will not continue unless a navigator or engineering staff officer permits it.

Update flight logs with results of the pre-jump checks and ensure all modules have been restored to normal operations mode. After this, you can move on to route planning.

Route Planning

One of the first things you need to do is to decide where you want to go. Usually this comes in the form of an order from someone like the First Officer or the Captain. Once you know where you want to go you need to let the system itself know the route you want to take; this is usually done through the Navigator's console usually placed at the bridge. The interface of the console consists of a large map with the ship's position on it, stars (or if at a smaller scale, planets and asteroids) and routes.

Route planning is made in the form of waypoint placement meaning that instead of drawing a line, you just place a waypoint on the map and an automatic system (abbreviated as ARP, Automatic Route Planner) calculates the best possible route to the waypoint. Assuming that the console is using a standard keyboard, you can place multiple waypoints by holding Ctrl+Q. Another way you can place waypoints is through coordinates. However, be advised that this feature is only available in mapped space.

Dedicated Route Codes

Last way to get a FTL route is by inputting a Dedicated Route Code (DRC). A DRC is a unique route identifier given to pre-planned FTL routes. These routes will appear visually as orange lines on the navigator's console. A typical DRC code looks something like 1D00. Through just this code you can understand where this route leads to. If we break the code apart we will see that: The first digit is the speed identifier. This indicates how fast the ship will be going during this route. Speed limitations may be placed if the route has to maneuver through asteroid fields and such.

1 stands for full speed, 2 stands for fast, 3 stands for reduced and 4 stands for slow. Next thing we have to pay attention at is the letter. This usually represents a unique destination code. Due to the amount of destinations, this letter can consist of two letters which range from A - Z. The last two digits represent a unique route code. These don't represent anything about the route but guide the system on where to look in the Universal Route Database.

FTL Drive Charging and Jump Execution

This phase, when executed without any complications can be the most straightforward one out of all. This step ensures the correct operation of all relative systems and prepares the drive itself for a jump. In order for a navigator to engage the warp drive, a prompt is formed on the navigation screen that has 2 input fields. The first input field requires the navigator to input the .fpf file that was generated in the route planning step of the procedure. The second input requires the navigator to input their assigned FTL security code. This is given to navigators once they are assigned to a new spaceship and is required in order to execute a jump of any kind.

After the file has been input, it must be selected as 'active', where it will then on automatically calibrate the required charge for the supercapacitors, which can be manually changed later, or can be approved wherein the system will move on - the manual setting phase begins which is preceded by an announcement of the beginning of a warp through the ship's intercom. The Dark Matter Handling System must be set to FTL, the Conversion Unit must be set to ON, which will automatically stop when the amount of exotic matter needed is reached, the FTL Sensor Array must be set to full, and the Exotic Matter Emitter System arming switch must be set to ON position. External equipment such as long-range comms and primary sensor array must be retracted, and a final warning is to be announced over the ship's intercom.

The jump may be executed through an ignition switch arming performed by the Captain and First Officer, which will be opened through a biometric scanner, a final check of the control system will be initiated, and the ignition switch may be flipped, wherein the jump will begin.

Emergency Shutdown

Emergency Shutdowns come in 2 forms. Abort shutdowns and In-Flight Emergency Shutdown (FES). Keep in mind that by performing an emergency shutdown of any type may damage the drive.

Abort Shutdown: An abort shutdown can only be engaged before a warp bubble is formed. This type of shutdown is only to be engaged if a process fails after a warp execution order is given but before a warp bubble is formed. When engaged, all power to the FTL drive is shut off causing it to shutdown all processes. Due to this power cut, the drive may be damaged due to the unexpected loss of power resulting in a possible short circuit within the drive.

In-Flight Emergency Shutdown: An In-Flight Emergency Shutdown (a.k.a. FES) is a type of shutdown engaged when the spaceship is in-flight. When engaged the spaceship's autopilot (if not overridden) will perform a 40-50 degree turn towards the side that has least number of obstructions. When this turn is performed the spacecraft will come in contact with the warp-bubble's inner and outer wall causing a collapse that will not hurt the spacecraft in any form. This process is less likely to cause damage to the drive but the chances are still not 0.

Following an emergency shutdown, the Chief Engineer is to change the ship to auxiliary power and the engineering department is to perform a complete system diagnosis of the vessel's power grid for any abnormalities. If there are any, it becomes a high priority to repair any abnormalities before worsening, alongside performing a diagnostic and check of the Alcubierre drive - it is recommended to separate engineering into two teams: a power grid response team, and a drive diagnostics team. Unless in the event that the ship exits warp in an area with a higher potential for hull collisions, there should be no problems relating to the hull or structure of the ship.

Table of Commands

Life Support Systems
> lfs precheck -isd	Begins a pre-startup check while ignoring incoming data
> lfs start -auto	Begins an automatic startup of the system
> lfs start -manual	Starts the startup configuration process
> lfs maintenance -start	Puts the system into maintenance mode
> lfs maintenance -test	Tests all parts of the system
> lfs maintenance -stop	Returns the system to normal operations
> lfs version	Prints the current system version along with other information

FTL System (For when a graphical interface is not available)
> ftl startup -precheck	Performs a check on the system before the process of FTL
> ftl plan -confirm	Confirms the inputted flight plan creating a .fpf file
> ftl plan -cancel	Cancels the inputted flight plan
> ftl charge	Charges the FTL drive
> ftl start {flight plan file} {navigator password}	Starts the FTL procedures
> ftl abort {navigator password}	Aborts the FTL procedure (only available before warp bubble creation)

Reactor Operation

See also: Emissary/Reactor

Startup Operations

An inactive reactor requires a seven step process in order to activate. Engineering staff are required to wear a hardsuit when entering reactor chambers for the benefit of radiation protection and temperature regulation within the chilled reactor chamber. Operations related to the FTL drive are usually undertaken by engineers with the Reactor Technician (RT) rating.

A guide to the core.

The reactor chamber is the central ignition chamber, where hydrogen gas is vented in from the fuel injector pipes on the top and bottom and heavily pressured to collapse into a sphere, where the hydrogen becomes plasma and produces high amounts of heat and energy. Fusion creates helium as a byproduct, which is removed through the plasma transmission pipes, fed through the turbines to create additional power, and fed to the rear of the vessel, where it ionizes xenon gas to power the rear ion engines. The lower injector pipe has a neutron fuser array to convert hydrogen to deuterium or tritium for injection by fusing the hydrogen atoms with additional neutrons, depending on what is required. The power transmission pipe converts the energy produced by the fusion reaction into electrical energy via the power converter, which is fed to the rest of the ship. The reactor itself is dominantly inert, providing a method of clean and sustainable energy using fuel collected from the surrounding vacuum to power the core. However, it still requires considerable set up to start and maintain.


#	Name	Description
1	Reactor Chamber	The central chamber where hydrogen gas is pressurized, collapsing into a sphere and becoming plasma. This process produces massive amounts of energy that can be converted into electricity. It also creates helium and thermal energy.
2	Plasma Transmission Pipe	Removes helium byproducts from the reactor chamber and transports them to the turbine.
3	Power Tranmission Pipe, Converter	Transfers then converts the energy produced by the fusion reaction into electrical energy.
4	Auxiliary Power Units	Fuel cells that convert hydrogen and oxygen into water through electrolysis, producing enough electricity to power most ship systems. The Emissary has four APUs.
5	Ion Engines	Provides thrust through the ionization of xenon gas by helium.
6	Fuel Injector Pipe	Transports hydrogen gas into the top and bottom of the reactor chamber.
7	Turbines	Creates additional electrical energy from the kinetic energy of helium byproducts leaving the reactor chamber.
8	Hydrogen Storage	Stores ready-for-use hydrogen to be fed into the reactor. Sourced from either the ship's internal fuel storage or from exterior ramscoops.
9	Compression Laser Array	A high-power laser array which compresses the gaseous contents of the reaction chamber in order to create a fusion reaction and generate energy.
10	Neutron Fuser Array	Fuses hydrogen atoms with additional neutrons to convert them to deuterium or tritium before injection as needed.

APU Jumpstart

Starting the fusion reactor and the reaction that takes place inside requires the Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) to be jump-started in order to power the processes necessary to ignite the reactor. During a warm start, meaning there exists operating auxiliary power on the ship already, only two APUs need to be ignited, or in other cases used, in order to start the reactor. The number of APUs may vary depending on the model of reactor or class of ship, but the Ambassador-class, the class of the Emissary, possesses four APUs.

To jumpstart the APUs, 70% hydrogen and 30% oxygen must be inserted into the APUs from the ship's auxiliary fuel storage in order to form the combustion mixture. After roughly the right parameters of hydrogen and oxygen have been inserted into the APUs fuel chamber, an ignition signal can be remotely sent to generate an electrical spark to ignite the gas chamber and the APU, creating energy and water vapour, which is then pressurised and transferred to the turbines to produce electrical energy, which can then be used to jumpstart the fusion reactor itself. With the APUs now fully active, they should generate enough energy to power all reactor functions, though it can be a good idea to divert energy from non-essential areas of the ship to account for potential errors.

Hydrogen-Tritium Conversion and Injection

Once the Auxiliary Power Units have been started and are providing energy for the reactor jumpstart, the power generated will be first used to power the neutron fuser array at the bottom of the reactor. In the reactor control room, locate the FUSER ARRAY switch and set it to TRIT to convert the hydrogen fuel being fed in into tritium. Ensure the neutron fusers have a blue glow - different colours may indicate different things. A red glow will mean that the fusers are underpowered and not enough energy is being fed to the fusers, and a purple glow means that the fusers are being provided too much energy at a time or are overworking, which puts it at immediate risk of damaging itself and the reactor chamber. In this scenario, you must abort the jumpstart process to perform a power systems diagnosis.

When the TRIT counter reaches 100%, set the INJECTION button to 'on' and wait for the chamber to pressurise to a minimum of 15,000kPa. Ensure that the pressure does not exceed 30,000kPa to avoid stress on the chamber. A burst of the chamber is liable to destroy the entire reactor chamber and potentially the back of the ship.

Coolant and Fusion

While the chamber is pressurising, flip the COOL LOOP switch on the reactor control panel and set it to CIRC (circulate). This will activate the coolbant pumps, circulating the coolant fluid to and from space and the reactor. Wait for the chamber thermometer to read 0 degrees celsius before attempting ignition of the reactor. If the coolant pumps malfunction, abort the jumpstart. The systems and hardware of the reactor will overheat and break without coolant during the jumpstart sequence otherwise. Once the chamber has been pressurised with fuel, locate the COMP (compressor) board on the control panel and set all eight compression lasers to condense the hydrogen gas.

Once the gas is sufficiently condensed, set OFAN (offset angle) to all compression lasers from 5 to 20 degrees - no more and no less. The angle offset will allow for the condensed gas to begin spinning, increasing the chance of fusion. Set INJR (injection rate) to 1,000 mol/s at 4,000kPa to allow the gas to begin particle collision. This acts as a catalyst for the fusion reaction to occur. After the compression lasers are active, the tritium in the chamber will begin changing to plasma, generating energy and heat. The plasma will then begin conversion into helium, releasing more energy. The helium will be automatically scrubbed from the reactor chamber and transferred to the rear thrusters.

The energy generates by the reactor will be automatically converted into electrical energy by the power converters and sent to the ship's power cells to then be transferred into the electrical grid through Area Power Controllers (APCs). Locate the DIST (distribute) panel on the reactor control panel and set all 8 power cells (PWR1-8) to charge at 1500kW and discharge at 1000kW. Discharge rate is limited to 2000kW maximum to avoid electrical overload. After about 45 elapsed minutes of reactor power, it is recommended to switch the fuel to deuterium (DEUT on the fuser array) to reduce hydrogen consumption and reduce the danger of the reactor, at the cost of reduced power generation. Set the FUSER ARRAY switch to DEUT to begin automatic conversion of any new hydrogen fuel into deuterium instead of tritium.

Emergency Procedures

Grid Overload

Sabotages or errors to the power system such as electrical interference due to solar storms or surges - grid overloads - will cause the circuit breakers in the distribution circuit to trip, forcing the reactor into an emergency shutdown sequence, which will cause the ship to lose all power to prevent any malfunctions within the reactor assembly and potential damage. During this time, auxiliary power should kick in, and other engineering staff not assigned to the reactor should undergo the processes of the power outage procedure above in the guide. In the event of a grid overload response sequence, the reactor's components must be checked for any damage resulting from the sudden emergency shutdown.

The following damaged components section goes over the repair process for each of the reactor components above.

Inspect the reactor assembly for any damaged coolant piping, plasma transfer piping, or transmission piping. In the case of coolant piping, it may be damaged by sudden buildup and pressure damage as a result of the sudden cease of operations, the plasma transfer pipe may similarly be damaged not only by sudden pressure buildup but also by heat concentration, and power transmission piping may contain shorted wires. Check and repair any faults in the piping systems first and foremost.
Check if the reactor shell is damaged or leaking. The sudden expansion of previously condensed and fused gases may rapidly expand outwards and damage the shell of the reactor chamber, which may cause leakage into the surrounding reactor room. A rapid patch-up and immediate core dump through the back thrusters is procedure for a reactor content leak, which in that scenario the entire reactor startup process must be engaged from the start.
Check if any injectors are malfunctioning or shorted. Injectors may suffer the same buildup and pressure issues as the piping systems. They can be repaired fairly easily and so long as no other major systems are damaged, after a thorough repair process, the reactor startup can continue with no added precautions as a result of injector repair.

Once a full damage assessment of the reactor assembly is complete, a full breaker reset can be conducted by locating the emergency panel under the console in the reactor control room. Open it and pull the reset lever to reset and replace all circuit breakers. Do not re-engage power until the damage to the reactor has been fully repaired and the damage assessment and repair of the rest of the ship is complete.

Damaged Components

Component	Repair Process
Reactor Chamber	If a segment of the reactor shell is damaged, firstly utilise plating to seal the leakage before proceeding to a full replacement. Once the damage is patched, perform a core dump by engaging the emergency core dump protocol - this can only be performed by the Chief of Engineering utilising a biometric scanner in their office. Once the core contents have been dumped and the reactor chamber fully vented of any fuel floating around, the damaged segment of the shell can be removed and replaced utilising replacement shell segments housed in the cargo bay. A thorough diagnostic of any other damaged systems in the reactor chamber such as the injectors should also be checked.
Plasma Transmission Pipe	In the event of a pressure buildup and burst, ship diagnostic systems should automatically catch a pipe breakage and immediately redirect the pipe contents to a jettison channel. Otherwise, this must be manually done from the engineering bay. Pipe segment replacements can be found in the cargo bay and inserted in place of burst pipe segments. The jettison channel should never be damaged (as it is only used in emergency scenarios) but can also have it's pipe segments replaced the same way. Any contents released from the pipe and floating in the reactor room should be thoroughly removed before continuing any repair processes.
Power Tranmission Pipe, Converter	The power transmission pipe contains metallic wiring which may short and fry in the event of damage. Cut out and replace any damaged wiring segments and affix replacement wires using a soldering iron. If the converter is damaged it is usually as a result of a similar short in the wiring and a similar process can be taken to any damaged wiring in the converter. Otherwise, replacement components can be found in the cargo bay for any damaged components to the converter.
Auxiliary Power Units	Aside from minor damage such as replaceable components or wiring damage, if the auxiliary power units are damaged beyond confident repair, then the power of the reactor should be used to immediately alert any nearby ships for assistance in replacing the APUs and the ship should operate on low power in the meantime..
Ion Engines	The drive cones of the engines can be easily repaired with plating in the event of a fault in the drive cones caused by micrometeorites or other. If the thrusters are completely inoperable, an impromptu repair process of the ionisation chamber that allows for the ship to safely navigate - even if by basic means - is necessary and the ship must be returned to drydock for repair. Any further malfunction in the engines may cause worse disasters such an explosion in the drive cone which may cripple the entire ship by damaging and spacing the reactor room.
Fuel Injector Pipe	If a pipe pressure buildup and burst has occurred, the same process as used in the plasma transmission pipe repair can be used with injector pipe segments instead of transmission pipe segments. The portion of the injector can be similarly replaced with spare parts, and requires all of the reactor shell components around it to be removed, requiring a core dump procedure before continuing.
Turbines	In the event of a damaged turbine blade, new turbine blades can be inserted using replacement blades in the cargo bay after powering down the affected turbines. If the mechanisms of the turbine itself are damaged, then a more rigorous process of repairing the hydraulics must be undertaken. If the issue cannot be confidently repaired, then a more thorough repair process in drydock is necessary.
Compression Laser Array	If either the compression laser array or fuser arrays are damaged and rendered inoperable, it requires a full replacement of the lasers or fusers in drydock. Any remaining power should be used to alert nearby ships and to power the FTL drive if necessary.
Neutron Fuser Array