Technology -- Zuul
From SOTS
Ships
Zuul ships appear to be assembled from components that were once part of some other structure. Very often their vessels are made up of parts torn from different sources—bits and pieces of several enemy ships, colonial storage crates, even ore carriers or water pods can all be made to serve in a single Zuul destroyer. The disparate parts are crudely welded together into a serviceable whole.
Examination of derelict Ripper vessels reveals bits and pieces stolen from many species. These fragments can often be identified by nose art or serial numbers; it is somewhat disturbing to note that very often, these random chunks were taken from a vessel lost in battle with a species other than the Zuul. From this evidence it would seem that the Rippers have visited the scene of many battles after the main combatants had departed, to comb through the drifting debris looking for anything—or anyone—that they could use.
The only technology unique to the Zuul is their FTL drive, which is based on an unknown branch of gravokinetic theory. The so-called “rip drive” uses a focused energy event to create a miniature black hole. This artifcial singularity creates a tiny tear in the fabric of space-time, penetrating to the subspace or “Nodespace” layer. What begins as a small puncture immediately opens into a larger “rip”, a new gravometric stress fracture which quickly forms a channel between the closest massive stellar body and that of a neighboring star system.
Any given Ripper-ship can detect and travel along these space-time tunnels, once they are opened. The “rip-lanes” eventually form a network not unlike the naturally occuring Node lines followed by human vessels. Unlike Node lines, however, a rip-lane is not a stable connection through Nodespace. These lanes have a tendency to collapse over time.
Weapons
Zuul weapon systems, like the hulls of their starships, often appear to have been torn from the ships of other races, or back-engineered and adapted for use after having salvaged from an enemy ship.
 Zuul Ship |
 Zuul Fleet |
 Zuul Firing |
