Ion drive

"Ion drive" a common shorthand for the FTL engine originally known as the cascading ion drive

Technical

Commonly seen alternative to matter/antimatter-based warp drive in early phases of technological development (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
Fundamental operation essentially identical to M/AM warp drive (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
- Operations are powered via successive streams of ionized gasses with alternating charges directed at extreme velocities through magnetic field manipulation rather than matter/antimatter interactions (ENT Novel: Daedalus; SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
  - Successive streams held apart from one another until "the last possible second", at which point they release their full energy in a single burst (ENT Novel: Daedalus)
Construction simpler, requiring fewer exotic materials and components (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
- Speed fairly limited without strong external source of energy (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
- Incredibly sensitive to ion storms, which can result in hyperefficiency potentially beyond the capabilities of a vessel's superstructure to support (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")
Most often used as transitional technology prior to invention and/or development of more traditional methods of FTL propulsion (SCE Short Story: "Foundations")

October 5, 2140: Loss of the Daedalus, a testbed spaceframe for the Daedalus-class bearing the prototype cascading ion drive as developed by Victor Brodesser (ENT Novel: Daedalus, Daedalus's Children)
- Theoretical projections suggested the engine capable of speeds up to warp 7, but on activation, ion-cascade reaction resulted in inadvertent cross-universal rift (ENT Novel: Daedalus, Daedalus's Children)