Polytron Boost

The Polytron Boost greatly increases the speed of a travelling ship. It is not available in shops until the player has purchased the Valkyrie add-on.

In-Game Description
''Many test pilots were sacrificed for the development of this powerful booster. Before a G-force compensator was added as a counter-measure, a number of volunteers were pressed flat by the enormous acceleration force. Despite protests, the researchers quite literally sweep the matter under the carpet.''

Function
Boosters are activated by pressing an upwards-turned fast-forward button at the bottom of the HUD. After the boost has been used, a certain amount of time must pass before it can be used again, indicated by the button fading noticeably.

The performance of a booster depends on three factors in: How much it increases a ship's speed, how long it lasts, and how long it must rest before it its used again. Its affordability gives curious pilots a good taste of how boosters can benefit them in their travels.

Keith normally flies his ships around 450 km/h, unless he is travelling between planets or star systems. With the Polytron Boost installed, he can increase its top speed to a whopping 1350 km/h for six seconds, but must then rest for sixteen before using it again.

In the heat of combat, this boost can easily escape entire groups of enemies chasing you. And while travelling across the emptiness of space--or if foolish enough to approach a firefight--using this booster can help you reach your intended destination very quickly.

Because of the intense speed boost experienced, the screen, itself, will shake rather intensely. If you are trying to land precise shots, do not expect many to hit. Also, if you have certain volatile cargo aboard, the indicator at the top right of the HUD will fill very quickly, and will indicate that the pilot is just a couple of shakes away from destroying the ship.

Bugs

 * This booster can aid in phasing the player's ship into another larger ship such as a freighter or terran battlecruiser.

Trivia

 * Despite 1350 km/h being an impressive speed to be travelling at, in Galaxy on Fire 3D, Keith regularly flies all of his ships at 1200 km/h.
 * In Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD on Mac OSX, when controlling with a mouse, the HUD does not receive the intensive shaking effect. This tremendously help with controlling fire and maneuvering the ship while using this boost.