The Harmony Drive System, short for the Galactic Synchronous Harmonization Drive System, less commonly either H-Drive or Harmdrive, is the registered trademark of the Perseus Cluster corporation Advanced Movement And Transportation (AMaT) as developed under contract to the Persean Concord Navy. Having just completed space trials and shakedown, the Harmony Drive is being implemented during routine refits throughout the Concord Navy as of 14,249 On.D..
Origin and History[]
With the final renewal of trademark for the Relay Gates expiring at the end of 14,210 On.D. AMaT was financially motivated to find a suitable replacement source of revenue. After extensive study of The Note, the attendant 11 Octi supermassive black hole, the Finisterra anomaly and voluntary study of Purifiers from the Church of the Stars, a new theory of spatial relations became apparent. The applications of harmonic resonance had long been known to science, though with the phenomenon of The Note it became apparent that harmonics may play a more significant part in the universal laws which governed the company's primary revenue stream.
Building upon this new harmonic theory, researchers with AMaT discovered that by synergizing harmonic theory derived from The Note to the technology underlying a Step Gate or Relay Gate's Aperture that a momentary spatial anomaly could be created. This was the epiphany which led directly to the development and production of the H-Drive.
Design and Operational Details[]
While the exact nature of a Harmony Drive's operation is a closely guarded corporate secret, a basic outline can be drawn by merely examining the the Drive's housing. The Drive system itself is comprised of a series of gimbals capable of six degrees of freedom. Each gimble is made of a heretofore unknown material with some properties of a solid and some of a liquid, behaving in some ways like heated glass but with the structural integrity of metal. In operation, these gimbals lock in a specific set of degrees and a harmonic tone is sent along each.
It is hypothesized that the tone is derived from The Note and its resonance throughout the universe containing the Perseus Cluster. This derives from the fact that an H-Drive equipped vessel cannot travel to an unexplored location blindly, though attempts to effect a 'blind jump' have yielded mixed - though mostly catastrophic - results. Extrapolating from this has led to the further hypothesis that travel outside of the Cluster may be possible if the destination's unique tone could be properly calculated. In short, the introduction of the tone to the drive system is the motivational force which allows the Harmony Drive to effect a vessel's ability to travel through space.
Controversy[]
Upon first completing space trials, the Harmony Drive was introduced to the Concord Navy at large and moved from Deqon-level clearance to Pasoah-level clearance. As the learning curve, non-disclosure terms and training required to become certified in the operation of the Drive became more widely known, backlash from astrogators, engineers and other ship crew aboard many vessels was nearly sufficient to result in the program being scrapped. To this point, all operations of the Drive were handled by civilian contractors working for AMaT. Within the space of one hundred Standard Days, however, this opposition was brought under control with the Concord Navy's arrangement to maintain an interim training staff and allow transfers of affected personnel who did not wish to or who were unable to undergo training for the new Drive system.