Last time I wrote about the technology in the Binary System universe, I spoke about the various different types of artificial intelligences that exist within the setting.
Tonight, I’ll talk about another major technology that helps move the plot characters and spacefaring vessels from place to place! That’s right, we’re talking about faster-than-light travel.
Part 2: Warp Cores and Hypergates
To be pedantic about it, no vessels in Binary System actually exceed the speed of light. For actual acceleration, sub-light speeds far below even the c-fractional velocities of the various linear accelerator weapons is the hard “limit” as far as spacefaring vessels are concerned.
So how do people and ships get from place to place without spending hundreds or thousands of years cruising along at sub-light acceleration? Bash a hole in reality and tunnel through to wherever you need to go, of course!
Warp cores are a piece of technology with major plot relevance in Binary System. The warp core is an extremely complex piece of technology, but the most important single component is the central rod containing stable hypermatter particles. During a jump, this central rod is subjected to tremendous amounts of energy; hypermatter in the core rapidly reaches a critical charge level and becomes excited, generating a stable warp dislocation. This weakens the boundary that separates the space we physically inhabit from the zero-dimensional neutral territory referred to as "hyperspace," making inter-galactic travel possible during a single human lifetime.
The actual “jump” itself is almost instantaneous, as concepts such as "time" and "distance" are inapplicable in hyperspace. This does not mean, however, that a vessel can simply teleport from one side of the galaxy to another in an instant; the system has many limitations and dangers that must be taken into consideration. The "process" is critically important, though generally automated by the starship's navigation computer and transparent to the travelers.
The jump process follows a precise series of successive events. In order to make a hyperjump, the starship's navigation computer must have a very detailed set of positional data for the destination. After the system uses these jump coordinates to properly set the warp core, the navigation computer initiates the core injection and begins the jump. The time necessary to generate a stable warp dislocation and create a hyperspace tunnel can vary based on a myriad of factors, including power source type, warp core type, the mass of the vessel itself and the relative strength of nearby gravity wells.
Once the vessel has entered the hyperspace tunnel, the next phase of the process begins. Collapsing the tunnel safely is accomplished by the navigation computer, which carefully moderates the warp core and slowly eases the starship back into normal space. Once a traveler emerges from hyperspace at their destination, the warp core is retracted and the field is carefully attenuated so that the warp dislocation remains stable until it ceases to exist. At this point, the jump has been completed and the traveling starship has arrived at its destination safely.
A modern warp core will generally average a maximum tunneling distance of twenty to sixty light-years. Larger vessels, such as capital starships, may utilize an oversized warp core with respect to the vessel’s mass, resulting in notably longer ranges. For example, Alliance Fleet stealth destroyers use a core that is four times larger than necessary for the vessel's mass, enabling it to tunnel up to two hundred light-years in a single jump. After each jump, regardless of the type or size of warp core, the vessel will need to recharge. In order to avoid the lengthy charge times between short hops while traversing the galaxy, the Alliance developed the hypergate.
Hypergates are, put simply, warp core amplifiers. These massive orbital structures, usually constructed within Alliance-controlled star systems, are essentially giant warp coils. This allows for a much stronger stable warp dislocation to be generated and as a result greatly enhances the range of any hyperspace-capable vessel that enters the gate. The gate works in conjunction with the vessel’s own warp core, multiplying the field strength exponentially and allowing the starship to much more safely tunnel vast distances in a single jump.
So what is this hypermatter stuff, and where does it come from?
It's a plot device very rare sort of matter that is usually found around dying massive stars that are collapsing into pulsars. It's theorized that hypermatter is also present near black holes, but for obvious reasons it's not exactly possible to obtain it from those locations. Alliance particle physicists theorize that hypermatter actually originates from hyperspace itself and enters the universe through naturally occuring warp dislocations.
What happens when a jump goes wrong?
Usually nothing, except a lot of wasted energy and maybe some burned-up equipment. These things are very delicate; malfunctioning warp cores can and do often destroy themselves, leaving the ship’s captain with an expensive repair in their future! Sometimes, depending on the nature of the malfunction, the stable warp dislocation may start to expand and distort rapidly, becoming an unstable warp dislocation.
That sounds bad.
It is bad. Unstable warp dislocations aren’t well understood by Alliance scientists and researchers, partly because they’re naturally very rare, but mostly because they’re so incredibly dangerous. Most commonly these phenomenon are caused by a warship being heavily damaged or destroyed while attempting to complete a warp core injection. Direct exposure to warp dislocations are almost always fatal to humans; those who do manage to survive are plagued with an extensive list of unpleasant ailments ranging from DNA damage, sterility or shortened lifespans.
Intriguingly, direct exposure to unstable dislocations seems to have little or no observable effect on nerve or brain tissue. This is considered-----% [DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED]
[Attempting to rebuild database from backup......... FAILED]
[TERMINAL REMOTE LOCK]
PRIORITY SYSTEM LOCKOUT - ALLIANCE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
THIS DATA HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED UNDER THE WAR INTEL SECURITY ACT OF 877 DE (WISA). BLACK LEVEL SECURITY CLEARANCE HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED.
FURTHER INQUIRIES ARE PROHIBITED.
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