The ship shudders and shakes as the inertial guidance systems fight the star's influence. Then suddenly, calmness. The ship has passed into slipspace and is speeding to the next system over.
Star Hopper drives are smaller, cheaper, and less greedy for constant power than the gargantuan warp cores found in larger vessels, and as such dominate the smaller end of the civilian market for FTL capable ships.
Star Hoppers use the deep gravity wells of stars as a power source. They charge up by diving close to the surface of a system's star. Shen enough power is harvested by the dive, the drive then kicks the vessel into a state known as "slipspace", and the vessel begins the days long journey across the gulf between stars. The range of the drive is relatively short, and frequently only the nearest few stars can be reached this way. These trips through slipspace can be chained together on longer journeys, using each star in the chain as a gravitational slingshot, causing the vessel to appear to "hop" between star systems.
Shallow dives around stars, as well as dives near heavy gas giants can charge the drive enough for short range intra-system travel. Diving past a neutron star or a black hole can lend enough energy for very long range inter-system travel, but the extreme forces exerted on these vessels have been known to tear them to shreds with the loss of all onboard.
Sometimes Star Hoppers are observed diving towards a star, but are not observed arriving in their destination system. It is believed that computer or mechanical failure occurs, which causes the small vessels to either never engage the drive and slam into the star, or else the drive disengages too early and strands the vessel in the great empty gulf.
A strong sunscreen is recommended during the dive phase.
On Aaltiera, intact Star Hopper drives are extremely difficult to come by, and even then such devices are entirely useless on the planet's surface. They are good sources of useful parts for a myriad of scavenged and cobbled together devices and gadgets, and are among the first things to be stripped from wrecks that impact the planet surface.
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