Model: No formal designation
Cost: 10,000
Skill: Space Transports Piloting
Special: Doubles current Space speed (most effective at all-out speed)

Description: The S.O.B. is a custom engine mod which relies on a common method of boosting speed: it literally cuts off all safeties on the fuel flow and pumps raw power into the engines. The result is dramatic; a huge, blue-white plume of exhaust erupts from the rear of the craft as it shoots forward. However, the dangers inherent should be fairly obvious; it requires a skilled hand at the controls and a careful eye in the engine room to keep the entire drive system from being blown out... or blown apart.

D6: The S.O.B. requires two Very Difficult Repair roll to install correctly. It is rather easy to perform the modification; much harder to do it without endagering the craft and its occupants. When activated, the pilot must make a Moderate Piloting roll to retain control of the ship, or a Movement Failure results. This difficulty increases by one level every other round the S.O.B. is activated. A second character, preferably the engineer, must make a Difficult Repair roll each round; if it fails, the engine is ruined and requires extensive (and expensive) overhaul. In any case, a repair costing at least 1,000 credits is necessary after using the drive, in order to fix damage caused to the plasma core and fuel lines.

Both the Vorinna Tan and the VT2 are equipped with the S.O.B., though Tu'ebb's intimate experience with designing the drive was incorporated into the VT2, and so that ship does not suffer the engine damage resulting from activating the drive.

Model: No Formal Designation
Cost: 15,000
Skill: Space Transports Piloting
Special: Adds 20 to current Space speed

Description: The Ramjet Booster Pack is another form of engine booster, preferred by Zolar and built into the Dauphern. It takes the form of a pair of extendable, external engines held flush to the hull of a freighter until activated. When activated, the engines are extended by a pair of mechanical struts on both sides of the hull. The engines are basically supercharged variants of Bussard ramjets, scooping up the energy and particles thrown off the wake of the freighter and using it as reactant. The result is an impressive boost of speed, essentially adding two engines without the need for added fuel or extensive weight. The disadvantages of this system are that it requires the ship to be moving extremely fast in order to attain enough matter to use as fuel, and that combat maneuvering is basically impossible; the struts would snap like twigs if put under stress of combat. When activated, this system's wake is a glowing, flashing purple.

D6: The Ramjet requires a Difficult Repair check to install. In game terms, the ship must be moving at All-Out before activating the Ramjet, which requires one round. Once done, the ship's space increases by 20. However, any Piloting checks attempted with a difficulty of Moderate or above automatically fail when the system is activated. A Moderate check is required to avoid a movement failure, which increases one difficulty level every other round used.

Note: The two drives may seem similar, but there are distinct differences. The S.O.B. has the most potential speed of the two and costs much less to install; however, it is much more dangerous and expensive in the long run. The Ramjet is safer and easier to use, but it does not provide quite the boost of the S.O.B. and has a much heftier front cost. The S.O.B. is more suited for smugglers and blockade runners; the Ramjet for people with more to lose.