An Oscillating Mercury Core relies on the unique properties of Mercury under pressure near that of a stellar core.
Operation
When compressed to 4000 TPa of pressure the Mercury isotope of Hg-194 is bombarded with alternating pulses of tachyon and graviton particle beams while a magnetic field suspends the Mercury in a modulating subspace field. The force of this bombardment under the intense pressure interacting with the field generates high energy plasma infused with a lygon particles suspended within the core.
High energy plasma is then routed through a subspace particle filter and then into an elecro-plasma transfer system used to for power. The particle filter diverts the lygon particles back into the core where the raw infused plasma is then used for propulsion. Quartz stabilizer rods are used to absorb excess lygon particles and maintain core integrity.
Safety
It is important for the lygon particle field inside the core to remain stable as the pressurized Mercury core has a minute gravitational field that if intensified out of control could explode. High energy plasma and pressurized Mercury would then expand out of control from containment breech, the resulting explosion itself would be minor compared to secondary explosions caused from the plasma transfer system rupturing.