Added my own two cents to the story, Dartz. Remarkable what I can pull out of my ass that actually makes sense when the setting is right.
The idea is how is an Outlaw gonna catch a supposedly faster Blackbird? Answer: proper firmware. As a safety measure to help keep Boskonians from gaining an edge, Ben made sure that newer model Blackbirds and other models with similar engine systems have firmware controls for the quad helix arrays that need to be updated on a regular basis to continue functioning. Only the ship owners have the login to BAT's site to update the firmware. Otherwise, it drops as much as 30-60 percent in efficiency. Sure, there's some hacks out there, but they don't quite do as good of a job because the people that wrote them are mostly Mads or don't understand the arrays.
Thoughts?
The idea is how is an Outlaw gonna catch a supposedly faster Blackbird? Answer: proper firmware. As a safety measure to help keep Boskonians from gaining an edge, Ben made sure that newer model Blackbirds and other models with similar engine systems have firmware controls for the quad helix arrays that need to be updated on a regular basis to continue functioning. Only the ship owners have the login to BAT's site to update the firmware. Otherwise, it drops as much as 30-60 percent in efficiency. Sure, there's some hacks out there, but they don't quite do as good of a job because the people that wrote them are mostly Mads or don't understand the arrays.
Thoughts?