Developed by the brilliant mind of the late Dr.William J. Sphinder, QL-Engines, A.K.A Quantum Leap Engines, have served as an invaluable and crucial component for all of Neutra’s military vessels. Their invention has allowed even the mightiest and grandest of ships to attain a speed of well beyond that of light; Making intergalactic travel as convenient as a drive to the local grocery store.

QL-Engines operate based on the findings and research of Dr.Sphinder relating to a concept he dubbed “Quantum Interpretation”. Quantum Interpretation states that our observable universe is actually one layer of many unseeable realities, each one interacting and reacting with one another like an ocean’s currents. QL-Engines operate by accessing the second of these layers, appropriately named “The 2nd Layer”. This access is performed by a field generated from the QL-Engine’s complex network of particle manipulations. The size of the field generated is entirely dependent on the size of the Engine generating it, however, there has been an observed threshold of about 2 km maximum for field limit, as seen in Experiment#1079:Lyriatt and Experiment#1098:Bomva.   

Any form of matter caught within a QL field is subjected to a series of atomic vibrations. These new oscillations of an entity's components allow for said entity to “slip” into the 2nd Layer. In the 2nd Layer, the limit for light seems to be entirely non-existent, and/or set to a greater threshold than in our own 1st Layer. Using the incredible force of Nova Thrusters- Accelerators powered entirely by MSGs, any vessel and anything on board it, is able to achieve incomprehensible speeds without being bound by the limits of mass and matter. Dr.Sphinder himself once joked on how he wished he named the QL-Engine “The Ethereal Jump”.

Quantum Leaping requires a number of years worth of training, as untrained individuals subjected to the repeated turbulence of their own oscillating beings are reported to grow incredibly ill for days at a time.

Note: Planet nations outside of Neutra learned to develop their own versions of the QL-Engine some time in the Second Millennium. How they were able to accomplish this feat was reported to be an accidental information leak from one of Neutra's many governmental stations scattered about the Vast Expanse.