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Description
Materials Science. For starship hulls and other large constructions, Federation engineers prefer tritic durasteel. Chemically similar to the more standard durasteel used in the Empire, tritic durasteel has a pyramidal, rather than cylindrical, molecular structure. While more difficult to manufacture, Federation industry maintains a higher standard of material quality than their Imperial rivals, allowing the Federation to produce enormous quantities of tritic durasteel. Tritic durasteel is lighter and holds its structure better in odd configurations than regular durasteel, allowing Federation engineers to design more "artistic" designs than their Imperial counterparts. However, tritic durasteel has a much lower heat capacity than regular durasteel, necessitating compensatory systems in case of system overheat or energy weapon fire.

Power. With hypermass a rarity in the Federation, the Federation relies on dilithium fusion reactors for their energy needs. An efficient, clean energy source, dilithum fusion is a reliable energy source that can easily provide for a Federation ship's needs. However, dilithium fusion reactors cannot output as much energy as a hypermass reactor at one time, meaning that a Federation ship cannot compete with the sheer power output of a similarly-sized Imperial vessel. Nonetheless, dilithium fusion is one of the more efficient energy sources in the galaxy, and can outpower the reactor systems of the lesser galactic powers.

Faster-than-light Travel. The Federation almost universally uses warp drives, but some larger and specialist craft are equipped with both warp drives and hyperdrives. Warp drives function by collapsing space in front of a vessel, and expanding it behind a vessel, creating a spacetime "bubble" which can then move at faster-than-light speeds. While slower than hyperdrives, warp drives can function closer to stellar and planetary gravity wells, and are not dependent on hyperspace lanes. This gives Federation craft greater tactical maneuverability in-system than their Imperial counterparts. Federation ships can strike against the slower Imperial enemy and conduct a warp jump before the Imperials can effectively retaliate. Indeed, it is possible for a Federation ship to warp inside an enemy vessel, but this will cause catastrophic damage to both craft.

Energy Weaponry. The Federation, like the Empire, makes heavy use of energy weapons. Given the vast size of the Federal military, energy weapons are much easier to supply, since they rely on universal battery packs. Indeed, Federation weapons often have their batteries built-in, to be recharged on battlefield charging stations. The standard Federation weapon is the phaser, a form of advanced plasma weapon that fires phased ionized gas at opposing targets. Although similar to Imperial blasters in basic mechanics, Federation phasers are much more accurate and can retain their cohesion for longer distances, allowing the Federation to outrange the Empire in most engagements. Unlike most energy weapons, Federation phasers are always designed to allow for various power settings, such as stunning or killing. A phaser set to stun washes the target's nervous and electrical systems with an overwhelming amount of ionized particles, causing extreme pain and disabling most biological and mechanical motor functions. Disruptor weapons are more advanced, power-intensive systems. An advanced weapon reverse-engineered from Second Empire technology, disruptor weapons break down the bonds of baryonic particles in a small area. While the Federation has yet to develop disruptors powerful enough to destroy entire planets, they remain powerful anti-armor weapons. For battlefield identification purposes, Federation energy weapons are colored purple.

Kinetic Weaponry. Kinetic weapons are almost entirely absent from the Federation's arsenal, as the Federation dismisses them as "primitive." The only widely-used "kinetic" weapon in the Federation arsenal is the photon torpedo. Photon torpedoes function similarly to Imperial proton torpedoes: they are torpedoes powered by an antimatter charge that, once detonated, creates a tiny beam of photonic energy that can burn through most materials. Photon torpedoes carry much higher yields than Imperial proton torpedoes, but their antimatter warheads mean that they are more expensive to build and maintain.

Special Weapons. While the Empire invests most of its funds in maintaining tried and true technology, with little in the way of research and development, the Federation is always attempting to counter the Imperial advantage in firepower and energy generation with novel forms of advanced technology. This has led to the creation of many strange weapons systems that Star Fleet eagerly adopts. Digital conveyors are a form of high energy quantum disruption that was used by the Second Empire to transport and copy matter. However, since the Federation lacks the computer technology to process transportation, digital conveyors are used by the Federation as a means of tearing into heavily armored - but unshielded - targets. Digital conveyors can also be used to increase or decrease the density of a target by "shrinking" or "blowing up" a target, which can have detrimental effect on mechanical parts and biomass. The Federation also utilizes molecular arrestors, which freeze particles in a target in place and render it available for capture. However, more massive targets, and ones that generate heat, are harder to "freeze." The most terrifying weapons in the Federation's arsenal are drilithine nova catalysts. A form of hyperdense exotic matter, this material can be transported by reverse-hyperspace drives into the core of any star in the galaxy, whereby it will initiate a dangerous hyperspace-realspace distortion deep within the star's core and cause it to collapse into hyperspace. The star explodes in a violent supernova and then quickly transforms into a black hole, destroying the system and disrupting hyperspace travel around the star for lightyears. Developed by Jarjem Averom, drilithine nova catalysts are so destructive that it motivated Dr. Averom to defect to the Empire and develop a counter for their use: hyperlight weaponry.

Shields. Federation shields are generally of the deflector type, which function by redirecting projectiles at an angle away from the target. This form of energy shielding is less energy-intensive than the arrestor-type shields used by the Empire, which allow Federation shields to be durable, if less effective against energy weapons. The efficiency of Federation energy shields allows them to stay up longer and recharge faster than their Imperial counterparts, and indeed energy shields are used as "reinforcement fields" to keep some larger Federation craft together. Because of the Federation's more advanced computer technology, Federation ships can reduce the intensity of their shields in order to preserve power, or overload them in cases of heavy fire.

Antigravity. Antigravity tech is ubiquitous throughout the Federation, and is some of the most advanced. Federation antigravity is far more efficient than its Imperial counterparts, allowing most Federation vehicles to effortlessly depart from planetary gravity wells without having to reach escape velocity. Rather than operating through direct graviton manipulation, Federation antigravity (and artificial gravity) technology operates using drilithine, a form of exotic matter similar to hypermass and found in regions of hyperspace corresponding to areas far from hyperspace lanes. While useless for hyperspace travel or energy generation, drilithine modifies spatial folds depending on its decay rate, creating an effect similar to graviton manipulation. Almost no Federation vehicles, civilian or military, operate on wheels, tracks or legs, and their military vehicles can even operate in orbit (albeit ineffectively). Drilithine technology is jealously guarded by the Federation, which has mandated that their engineers create redundant and useless systems in all Federation antigravity engines so that foreign engineers will have trouble understanding them.

Computers. Federation computers are more advanced than their Imperial counterparts, due to the Federation's greater use of dedicated organic minders. Federation computers are permitted by their government to utilize more advanced plasma circuitry, granting them more efficiency for their size and greater computational speeds. This allows Federation craft to more accurately target their enemies, and allows for phasers to operate at longer ranges in space. However, these systems still pale in comparison to the advanced networks utilized by the Consortium. A significant disadvantage of Federation computers is that plasma circuitry is extremely volatile, and will explode if there is a catastrophic overload in a ship's electrical systems. Rather than viewing this as a flaw, Star Fleet views it as an unintended feature, and has engineered ship bridge systems to explode violently in case a ship is in danger of being captured or has been lost to a cyber attack.

Automation. While the Federation abides by and enforces sanctions against artificial intelligence, the Unity ideology's rules against advanced computer systems are more liberal than those of the Rationalist Church. The Federation government permits the creation of highly advanced computer systems that have limited learning, speech and cognition abilities, so long as they have organic minders. Unlike the Consortium, the Federation does not possess the technology for advanced brain-machine interfaces, and so must rely on clones decanted for the task of computer management. These clones, often referred to as "bridge bunnies" in the Star Fleet, serve as intermediaries between human superiors and computer systems. Federation computers are designed in such a way that they cannot do anything without a bridge bunny's verbal confirmation, and computers output data in such a manner that only the bridge bunny can understand it. This extra layer of accountability between computers and humans is considered enough to prevent another machine intelligence menace.

Description
Materials Science. For starship hulls and other large constructions, Federation engineers prefer tritic durasteel. Chemically similar to the more standard durasteel used in the Empire, tritic durasteel has a pyramidal, rather than cylindrical, molecular structure. While more difficult to manufacture, Federation industry maintains a higher standard of material quality than their Imperial rivals, allowing the Federation to produce enormous quantities of tritic durasteel. Tritic durasteel is lighter and holds its structure better in odd configurations than regular durasteel, allowing Federation engineers to design more "artistic" designs than their Imperial counterparts. However, tritic durasteel has a much lower heat capacity than regular durasteel, necessitating compensatory systems in case of system overheat or energy weapon fire.

Power. With hypermass a rarity in the Federation, the Federation relies on dilithium fusion reactors for their energy needs. An efficient, clean energy source, dilithum fusion is a reliable energy source that can easily provide for a Federation ship's needs. However, dilithium fusion reactors cannot output as much energy as a hypermass reactor at one time, meaning that a Federation ship cannot compete with the sheer power output of a similarly-sized Imperial vessel. Nonetheless, dilithium fusion is one of the more efficient energy sources in the galaxy, and can outpower the reactor systems of the lesser galactic powers.

Faster-than-light Travel. The Federation almost universally uses warp drives, but some larger and specialist craft are equipped with both warp drives and hyperdrives. Warp drives function by collapsing space in front of a vessel, and expanding it behind a vessel, creating a spacetime "bubble" which can then move at faster-than-light speeds. While slower than hyperdrives, warp drives can function closer to stellar and planetary gravity wells, and are not dependent on hyperspace lanes. This gives Federation craft greater tactical maneuverability in-system than their Imperial counterparts. Federation ships can strike against the slower Imperial enemy and conduct a warp jump before the Imperials can effectively retaliate. Indeed, it is possible for a Federation ship to warp inside an enemy vessel, but this will cause catastrophic damage to both craft.

Energy Weaponry. The Federation, like the Empire, makes heavy use of energy weapons. Given the vast size of the Federal military, energy weapons are much easier to supply, since they rely on universal battery packs. Indeed, Federation weapons often have their batteries built-in, to be recharged on battlefield charging stations. The standard Federation weapon is the phaser, a form of advanced plasma weapon that fires phased ionized gas at opposing targets. Although similar to Imperial blasters in basic mechanics, Federation phasers are much more accurate and can retain their cohesion for longer distances, allowing the Federation to outrange the Empire in most engagements. Unlike most energy weapons, Federation phasers are always designed to allow for various power settings, such as stunning or killing. A phaser set to stun washes the target's nervous and electrical systems with an overwhelming amount of ionized particles, causing extreme pain and disabling most biological and mechanical motor functions. Disruptor weapons are more advanced, power-intensive systems. An advanced weapon reverse-engineered from Second Empire technology, disruptor weapons break down the bonds of baryonic particles in a small area. While the Federation has yet to develop disruptors powerful enough to destroy entire planets, they remain powerful anti-armor weapons. For battlefield identification purposes, Federation energy weapons are colored purple.

Kinetic Weaponry. Kinetic weapons are almost entirely absent from the Federation's arsenal, as the Federation dismisses them as "primitive." The only widely-used "kinetic" weapon in the Federation arsenal is the photon torpedo. Photon torpedoes function similarly to Imperial proton torpedoes: they are torpedoes powered by an antimatter charge that, once detonated, creates a tiny beam of photonic energy that can burn through most materials. Photon torpedoes carry much higher yields than Imperial proton torpedoes, but their antimatter warheads mean that they are more expensive to build and maintain.

Special Weapons. While the Empire invests most of its funds in maintaining tried and true technology, with little in the way of research and development, the Federation is always attempting to counter the Imperial advantage in firepower and energy generation with novel forms of advanced technology. This has led to the creation of many strange weapons systems that Star Fleet eagerly adopts. Digital conveyors are a form of high energy quantum disruption that was used by the Second Empire to transport and copy matter. However, since the Federation lacks the computer technology to process transportation, digital conveyors are used by the Federation as a means of tearing into heavily armored - but unshielded - targets. Digital conveyors can also be used to increase or decrease the density of a target by "shrinking" or "blowing up" a target, which can have detrimental effect on mechanical parts and biomass. The Federation also utilizes molecular arrestors, which freeze particles in a target in place and render it available for capture. However, more massive targets, and ones that generate heat, are harder to "freeze." The most terrifying weapons in the Federation's arsenal are drilithine nova catalysts. A form of hyperdense exotic matter, this material can be transported by reverse-hyperspace drives into the core of any star in the galaxy, whereby it will initiate a dangerous hyperspace-realspace distortion deep within the star's core and cause it to collapse into hyperspace. The star explodes in a violent supernova and then quickly transforms into a black hole, destroying the system and disrupting hyperspace travel around the star for lightyears. Developed by Jarjem Averom, drilithine nova catalysts are so destructive that it motivated Dr. Averom to defect to the Empire and develop a counter for their use: hyperlight weaponry.

Shields. Federation shields are generally of the deflector type, which function by redirecting projectiles at an angle away from the target. This form of energy shielding is less energy-intensive than the arrestor-type shields used by the Empire, which allow Federation shields to be durable, if less effective against energy weapons. The efficiency of Federation energy shields allows them to stay up longer and recharge faster than their Imperial counterparts, and indeed energy shields are used as "reinforcement fields" to keep some larger Federation craft together. Because of the Federation's more advanced computer technology, Federation ships can reduce the intensity of their shields in order to preserve power, or overload them in cases of heavy fire.

Antigravity. Antigravity tech is ubiquitous throughout the Federation, and is some of the most advanced. Federation antigravity is far more efficient than its Imperial counterparts, allowing most Federation vehicles to effortlessly depart from planetary gravity wells without having to reach escape velocity. Rather than operating through direct graviton manipulation, Federation antigravity (and artificial gravity) technology operates using drilithine, a form of exotic matter similar to hypermass and found in regions of hyperspace corresponding to areas far from hyperspace lanes. While useless for hyperspace travel or energy generation, drilithine modifies spatial folds depending on its decay rate, creating an effect similar to graviton manipulation. Almost no Federation vehicles, civilian or military, operate on wheels, tracks or legs, and their military vehicles can even operate in orbit (albeit ineffectively). Drilithine technology is jealously guarded by the Federation, which has mandated that their engineers create redundant and useless systems in all Federation antigravity engines so that foreign engineers will have trouble understanding them.

Computers. Federation computers are more advanced than their Imperial counterparts, due to the Federation's greater use of dedicated organic minders. Federation computers are permitted by their government to utilize more advanced plasma circuitry, granting them more efficiency for their size and greater computational speeds. This allows Federation craft to more accurately target their enemies, and allows for phasers to operate at longer ranges in space. However, these systems still pale in comparison to the advanced networks utilized by the Consortium. A significant disadvantage of Federation computers is that plasma circuitry is extremely volatile, and will explode if there is a catastrophic overload in a ship's electrical systems. Rather than viewing this as a flaw, Star Fleet views it as an unintended feature, and has engineered ship bridge systems to explode violently in case a ship is in danger of being captured or has been lost to a cyber attack.

Automation. While the Federation abides by and enforces sanctions against artificial intelligence, the Unity ideology's rules against advanced computer systems are more liberal than those of the Rationalist Church. The Federation government permits the creation of highly advanced computer systems that have limited learning, speech and cognition abilities, so long as they have organic minders. Unlike the Consortium, the Federation does not possess the technology for advanced brain-machine interfaces, and so must rely on clones decanted for the task of computer management. These clones, often referred to as "bridge bunnies" in the Star Fleet, serve as intermediaries between human superiors and computer systems. Federation computers are designed in such a way that they cannot do anything without a bridge bunny's verbal confirmation, and computers output data in such a manner that only the bridge bunny can understand it. This extra layer of accountability between computers and humans is considered enough to prevent another machine intelligence menace.