Impulse drive
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Impulse drives are a form of sublight propulsion system used by the Forerunners and later by the Covenant.[2]
Overview[edit]
Operation[edit]
Impulse drives operate by converting energy and a small amount of exotic matter into thrust, creating a stream of virtual neutrinos and photons as a byproduct. These byproducts manifest as long tails of blue-purple energy trailing behind the craft in question and gradually dispersing, with the craft able to boost its acceleration by diverting power from other systems to the drive.[3] The acceleration provided by impulse drives is such that they can be extremely hazardous to occupants inside the vehicle, as such requiring inertial dampeners for the safety of any biological pilots or passengers onboard.[4]
Craft such as the Seraph can direct the thrust of their impulse drives with thrust-vectoring systems mounted in their tails.[3]
Usage[edit]
Forerunner monitors possess impulse drives for long-distance travel,[5] while Sentinels use an exotic form of the impulse drive to fly. Otherwise, both monitors and Sentinels use teleportation grids for transport.[6] The Covenant would later adapt this technology as a form of maneuver drive for their space-capable craft.[3]
Covenant impulse drives are a significantly more powerful than the boosted gravity propulsion drives used to keep their ground vehicle fleet hovering.[7] Powered by a small-scale pinch fusion reactor,[3] they are installed in most atmospheric/exoatmospheric Covenant space fighters, dropships and other shuttles for maneuvering around a planet's gravity well.[7]
The Covenant used impulse drives as propulsion systems on their Ren shuttles,[8] Elsedda-pattern Banshees,[1] R'sisho-pattern Ticks,[4] Bkowe'nei-pattern Vampires,[9] Phantom dropships, insertion pods, and Kmiro'sish-pattern Lichs.[10] Uztet'sKelln fighters, one of the earliest models of the Banshee, were equipped with twin impulse drives.[11] Seraphs are equipped with an impulse drive,[1] with the tail serving as a thrust vectoring system to direct the exhaust to increase maneuverability.[3]
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo 2
- Conversations from the Universe (First appearance)
- Halo: Reach
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo: Envoy
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d Halo: Reach, campaign level Long Night of Solace
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminal 7
- ^ a b c d e Halo: Warfleet, page 59
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Tick (Retrieved on Jun 30, 2021) [archive]
- ^ Conversations from the Universe: 343 Guilty Spark's Log
- ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 133
- ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 218
- ^ Halo: Envoy, chapter 1
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - What Once Was Lost (Retrieved on Mar 28, 2017) [archive]
- ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 118-122
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Banshee (Retrieved on Apr 6, 2015) [archive]
