Path engine

Path engines, also known as Path drives, were a type of specialized hyperdrive that provided incredibly fast hyperspace travel through use of the unorthodox and otherwise inaccessible Paths. Utilized by the Nihil marauder organization during the High Republic Era, the Path engines allowed the Nihil to appear unexpectedly when undertaking raids, giving the marauders a feared reputation. The devices were installed on Nihil starships in addition to normal hyperdrives, connected to the vessels' engines. Path engines, as well as the Paths that they utilized, were originally provided to the Nihil by Asgar Ro after he positioned himself as the first Eye of the Nihil; after his death, his son, Marchion, took his place. In truth, the Paths were calculated by the Force-sensitive Mari San Tekka, whom the Ros had captured long before.

Marchion Ro had plans to manipulate the Nihil for his own purposes, and the Path engines played a role in his scheme. After Ro orchestrated the Great Hyperspace Disaster, a hyperspace incident that led to subsequent Emergences across the Outer Rim, the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order became aware of the Nihil and their unconventional hyperspace abilities. As part of his maneuvers, Ro sent one of the Nihil's three Tempests to their deaths in the Battle of Kur, hoping to convince the Republic of the Nihil's destruction. Ro utilized the Path engines of the Nihil starships to perform short and unpredictable hyperspace jumps across the Kur Nebula; the supposed tactic escalated into the Nihil ships being sent into fatal impacts with the opposing vessels. His plan was successful, with the Republic believing that the force at Kur had been the entire organization, and Ro proceeded to take control of the Nihil himself. As their conflict with the Republic carried on, however, Tekka passed away, which left the Path engines unreliable; while they sometimes worked as planned, other occasions ended in disaster as they caused the entire starship to explode.

Long after the time of the Nihil, during the Imperial Era, Beol De'Rruyet, founder of De'Rruyet Industries, acquired an ancient Path engine. Though De'Rruyet claimed to have the ability to replicate its design, revolutionizing lightspeed travel, the Path engine that De'Rruyet possessed was only one part of the larger system, and as such would not work as he had claimed. De'Rruyet succeeded in constructing a replica of the Path engine, but the reproduction was incomplete, and would combust if it were to be activated. Nevertheless, his claims drew the attention of his rival, Domina Tagge of the Tagge Corporation, who recruited the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Aphra to verify De'Rruyet's claims before he could unveil it at an expo on the planet Midarr. Aphra learned of the catastrophic effect that the replica's activation would have, but her attempt to shut De'Rruyet down was interrupted by the arrival of General Vukorah of the Unbroken Clan, who wished to take the Path engine for herself.

Text and facts from the “Path engine” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.