portal hopper

  Originally intended as a derogatory label for Space Defense Legion ships, the term portal hopper eventually expanded and shifted to refer to any civilian spacecraft small enough to use portal drives rather than requiring the Hyperjump spell. As such, portal hoppers come in a large variety of shapes and sizes, with different carry capacities, crew requirements, and factions. Due to their nature, however, these ships do carry a small lost of similarities.  

Configuration

Propulsion

Due to the dangers of mixing Telekinesis with the directionality loss when using portals, all portal hoppers rely upon one or several mechanical engines linked into a portal generator. Best known as portal drives, these engines not only propel the spacecraft but also automatically adjust their trajectories as needed when traversing a portal.   While larger hoppers often also include telekinetic drives for planetary approach, this is not a requirement – and can be a liability. On most hoppers using this option the wiring is set to forcefully disable the Telekinetic engines once the portal spell is cast.  

Gravity

Portal hoppers typically do not generate gravity for passengers, cargo, or crew. Often the ships will jump through multiple portals in quick succession before emerging at the intended destination, leaving the telekinetic gravity used in most ships as a wasted effort. Instead passengers will tightly strap into their seats using a five point harness, only undoing the safety belt upon docking at a station or landing on a planet, allowing the destination to provide gravity.   On cargo portal hoppers the goods are carefully wrapped and packaged into large crates which are then strapped down for the duration of the trip.  

Size

Outside the Space Defense Legion, ships utilizing portal drives are small. The largest are able to cram up to 250 people in tight quarters, including both passengers and crew, although more common capacities range from 5 to 50, including a small allotment for personal luggage. Due to the nature of the portal drive, loading and unloading typically require more time than the transit itself, provided the trip requires fewer than five hops.  

Crew

The bridge crew on civilian portal hoppers tends to remain fairly constant, even across factions. The cockpit typically holds the Ship Captain and Helm, with a folding jump seat behind for the Executive Officer to use during the actual Portal Travel. Cargo is loaded and unloaded by ground personnel at the origin and destination, although one or several additional crewmembers will be tasked to sit with the cargo during hops, providing an all clear to the bridge crew after each before initiating the next. Similar supervision is provided in the passenger cabin, with crew spread across various seats throughout. All seats, both crew and passengers, face forward and everyone must be seated and strapped in prior to traversing each portal.  

Popularity

Portal hoppers have revolutionized travel across the universe, bringing interplanetary travel within the means of the average person. They have especially found popularity within The Freeholds, as the ships are affordable to manufacture and operate compared to their larger hyperjumping counterparts, although they have also found usage across the other factions for smaller distance flights or inter-faction travel.   Portal Travel has also proven safer, provided Telekinesis protocols are followed. Unlike Hyperjumps, there is no risk of leaving passengers or cargo behind. Everything attached to or inside the spacecraft will automatically remain with the ship.