Nexus Linkage Device
A Nexus Linkage Device allows up to nine of one type of components to be used together.
- It can work on jump drives, maneuver drives, and power plants, but not in combination. For instance, it can not link a maneuver drive and a power plant.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
Some shipbuilding concerns make large machines, such as jump drives, maneuver drives, and power plants in standardized sizes.
- The device employs an additive effect with distinct limits. E.g. three J-1 drives (J-1 + J-1 + J-1 = J-3) could be used to give a J-3 capability.
- A set of standardized fittings, designed alongside the standardized sizes of components. If, for example, two jump drives of size A are to be used on the ship, the Nexus Linkage Device sits between them and allows both of them to be used at once.
- This can be because one size (say, size A) is too small for a given ship design but the next size up (size B in this case) is too large, but 2 or 3 of the first size would be just right.
- In the case of jump drives, this is also a lower-tech alternative to a Jump Governor. If three jump drives are installed, each of which could give Jump-1 performance on its own, together they can yield Jump-3 performance for a Jump-3's worth of fuel ...but when the ship's captain only wants to jump a single parsec, two of the drives can be disengaged and the other one powered up, using only a Jump-1's worth of fuel.
Some call it "high technology duct tape", but this is not quite correct. Duct tape is more broadly usable, while a Nexus Linkage Device relies on standard connections, inputs, and outputs already present.
Nexus Disadvantages[edit]
When used in place of larger components (...which might not be available in the optimal size, or at a shipyard's current technological level), a Nexus Linkage Device offers diseconomies of scale. One manual has this to say about connecting jump drives:
For example, an N2 or NN Jump consists of two N Jump Drives connected by a Nexus. The nexus itself is basically a connection; it adds no tonnage and no additional cost.
A Nexus can also be used to create other combinations up to nine drives: N3, K4, Z9. An A9 drive (consisting of nine Standard J-Drive-A and nexi) creates an output of 900 EP, is (9 * 10)=) 90 tons, and costs MCr90. Jump Drive-J is more efficient at 50 tons.
The same is generally true of maneuver drives and power plants.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
Standardized connectors date back to pre-spaceflight technology on many worlds. The Nexus Linkage Device is merely a logical evolution of the concept.
This is such a common practice that many shipbuilding concerns just use these without calling them out. In these cases, they have no such thing as a "standardized size" of the relevant component: instead of "a size A jump drive", they speak of "a 10 ton jump drive that can give a 100 ton ship Jump-2 or a 200 ton ship Jump-1". This can cause some confusion when sophonts used to deal with the former talk to those used to dealing with the latter.
Technological Overview of Alternate FTL Devices[edit]
- Jump Drive → Nexus Linkage Device → Jump Governor → Advanced FTL Drives (Hop Drive or more advanced) → Hieronymous Device → Jump Potentiator
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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- T5 Core Rules pg. 336
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science