“Where there’s ground, there’s gravity — and where there’s gravity, there’s flight.”
Gravcars are the most common and versatile form of planetary transportation across the galaxy — sleek, efficient, and endlessly customizable vehicles powered by the remarkable Gravengine. Functioning much like airspeeders of the old worlds, Gravcars dominate both skies and streets, replacing traditional wheel-based travel nearly everywhere civilization has reached.
At the core of every Gravcar, starcraft, and hover vehicle is the Gravengine, a powerful reactor and field generator that manipulates local gravity fields to create lift and propulsion. Gravengines rely on Graviton Resonance Cells — crystalline power cores that emit a harmonic anti-gravitic field, allowing vehicles to float effortlessly over terrain or soar through dense urban skylines.
There are three primary classes of Gravengine, each specialized for different weight thresholds and atmospheric roles:
Used in small, personal vehicles such as speeder bikes, hover skiffs, delivery drones, and courier sleds, low-level Gravengines are lightweight and energy-efficient. They are restricted to low altitudes — typically no higher than 20 meters — making them ideal for urban and commercial transport. Their smaller field stability makes them inexpensive but vulnerable to interference during storms or in high electromagnetic environments.
The most widespread and reliable Gravengine type, found in the iconic Gravcar — the galaxy’s equivalent of the automobile. Mid-level Gravengines are capable of both low- and high-altitude flight, with a ceiling of several kilometers, making them suitable for rapid intercity and planetary travel.
Gravcars themselves come in countless forms:
Personal Cruisers – Luxury or sport Gravcars favored by the wealthy and influential.
Taxi Shuttles – Public transport vehicles licensed for civilian use in megacities and orbital colonies.
Cargo Lifters – Boxy and reinforced Gravcars for industrial or shipping roles.
Emergency Flyers – Fast-response medical, police, and fire Gravcars equipped with enhanced maneuvering thrusters and signal beacons.
Mid-level Gravengines are also frequently used on hover trucks, air buses, and light dropships — any vehicle requiring balance between power and control in atmosphere.
The heavy-duty cousin of the mid-grade system, the Large Gravengine powers atmospheric operations for starcraft, frigates, and planetary carriers. When a starship enters a planet’s atmosphere, its sublight engines disengage and its Gravengine activates — shifting propulsion from linear thrust to gravity field manipulation. This allows even colossal vessels to hover in place, land safely, or glide with precision without burning through vast fuel reserves.
Large Gravengines are among the most complex engineering feats in the galaxy, requiring constant calibration and Psionica-stabilized balancing to prevent atmospheric collapse fields or resonance failure.
No single blueprint defines the Gravengine. Thousands of corporations, guilds, and worlds produce their own designs — each with regional distinctions. The Torsan Skydrive, for instance, is revered for its silent glide and Psionically-tuned resonance dampers, while Hardan Core Systems favors rugged industrial Gravengines meant to endure desert winds and radiation storms.
Luxury Gravcars often incorporate Psionically-linked stabilizers, allowing pilots with Psi-links to control pitch, speed, and altitude intuitively with thought. Military-grade variants are often fitted with armor plating, shield emitters, and retractable weapon mounts, blurring the line between transport and combat craft.
Beyond civilian life, Gravengine technology fuels the backbone of planetary warfare and logistics.
Hover Tanks – Using reinforced Gravengines to glide just above terrain, they achieve unparalleled speed and shock maneuverability.
Gravfighters – Small atmospheric craft bridging the gap between starfighter and aircraft.
Gravtransports – Massive military haulers capable of carrying troops, cargo, and mobile command outposts across continents.