Cruise Disruptors

Projectiles designed to throw ships out of cruise are called cruise disruptors. They come in the form of a very light and agile tracking missile, which generates a very specific electromagnetic field upon detonation, overloading and effectively powering down the standard propulsion systems of any ships in the vicinity. Modern ships automatically reset the engine power supply controls and re-route remaining power to basic engines, forcing the affected ship back into impulse speed in order to retain handling.

This has three major consequences:
 * A ship travelling in cruise mode will be automatically thrown out of it and reduced to impulse speed.
 * A drifting ship will cease it's drift and return to impulse speed due to the propulsion system reset reactivating it's basic engines. Engine kill will not respond for 5 seconds.
 * The affected ship will be unable to power up cruise for approximately five seconds after being hit with the disruptor. The disruption field does not affect thrusters, allowing ships some degree of evasive manueverability after being hit.

The electromagnetic blast of the disruptor is also able to set off proximity sensors on mines, missiles and torpedoes, instantly detonating them before they reach their target. This can be used to great advantage against enemies relying on ammo based weaponry.

It is also important to note that certain larger ships are inherently more resistant to these disruption fields. To effectively employ disruption against one of these larger ships, one must use a cruise disruption missile with a larger disruption field.