Faster-Than-Light Travel (A1-0)
Faster Than Light Travel, also known as Superluminal Travel and commonly abbreviated to FTL Travel, refers to any form of travel that exceeds the universal speed of light limit. In the millennia, many different species and civilizations have invented or discovered many different methods to allow for superluminal speeds. While each of these methods is different from one another, they can be divided into four broad categories, each with it's own common limitations:
Realspace FTL
Warp Field Drive
A Warp Space Drive, also known as an Alcubierre Warp Drive, uses exotic matter, dark energy manipulation, gravitometric manipulation or energy concentration to expand spacetime behind a ship, and contract it in front of it. This allows for the creation of a bubble-shaped field of isolated spacetime, known as a Warp Bubble or as a Displacement Field, that remains unaltered compared to the surrounding universe. The bubble can then move at speeds far exceeding the normal universal lightspeed limit, without breaking the laws of causality and creating closed time-like curves. The vessel inside the Warp Bubble stays effectively still, and does not suffer from time dilations or contraptions.
The generation of a Warp Bubble requires tremendous amounts of energy, that can be created from antimatter-matter total energy conversions, or by self-sustaining monopole enhanced fusion. To generate a stable enough Bubble, ships can either concentrate energy in specially designed external Nacelles, or can disperse energy more evenly throughout the ship.
Known Users:
Interdimensional FTL
WarpSpace Drive
HyperSpace Drive
SlipSpace Drive
PseudoSpace Drive
UnderSpace Drive
AlterSpace Drive
JumpSpace Drive
A JumpSpace Drive uses artificially and on occasion naturally created JumpCrystals, these triangular crystals are created by classified means. The Process of reaching JumpSpace requires a Jump Portal, which can be created by using a Jump Portal Beam(NOTE: Only One Ship is ever needed to open a portal, multiple vessels equipped with JumpSpace Drives can use the same portal). These Portals have a turquoise hue and often swirl while open, before rapidly collapsing after the Beam Ship jumps. All Vessels using JumpSpace must have an end destination coordinates so that the ship can jump out of JumpSpace smoothly. Corrupted or No Coordinates will result in either Destruction or Extreme Damage.
Known Users:
Ûferperion Space
With the usage of Safarkran and Mosarkran energy with certain frequencies, one can tear a hole into Ûferperion Space, the dimension from where these materials hail. Ûferperion Space is not the same size as realspace, so by travelling a relatively low distance utilizing FTL one can reach great distances when they pass back into realspace. The only way to reliably re-enter Realspace is through a significant gravity well, like a planet or star, as other objects don't have corresponding locations in Ûferperion space and could result in the ship re-entering at an arbitrary point in realspace.
Known Users:
BrightSpace Drive
A BrightSpace Drive uses data gathered from an anomaly in the heart of Araknis's star to jump dimensions into BrightSpace. The process of moving to BrightSpace is often referred to as Light Shearing, as it looks as though the ship scrapes against solid light as it makes the transition. Inside of BrightSpace, all matter, energy, and void exist as light. Looking at it for any fraction of time, no matter how minute, will instantly render any individual permanently blind. In order to avoid turning into light, any ship passing through BrightSpace must employ a Dark Energy Shield. While light will still be able to pass through the shield, the matter, energy, and void inside of it will remain unchanged.
Contrary to the normal universe, light in BrightSpace increases the momentum of moving objects.
Known Users:
- Colonus Pact
- Scientific Directorate of Rosecordia