Space Travel
Main: Thread of Darkness
Interplanetary Travel
The methods of travel inside a star system are very different from those used for interstellar travel, primarily due to the relatively short distances. The gravity forces produced by stars and large planets in addition to the dangers of striking objects (relatively densely collected in star system) at very high speeds mean that spacecraft must travel at much slower speeds. However, this does not mean that interplanetary travel is slow.
- Reaction Drives: Nearly all developing species begin travel within their star system using reaction drive (those which use fuel to propel the ship, like chemical rockets). Members of the Republic consider this to be a low-tech method of travel an is primarily only used for low-cost merchant transport freighters. In most cases, about 40% of the fuel is used to thrust to a cruise speed, followed by a long period of coasting, then another 40% of the fuel used to decelerate; the remaining fuel is used for maneuvering at the ports and held in reserve for emergencies.
- Reactionless Drives: Advanced technologies (TL10+) have developed an engine that uses gravity-polarization (or anti-gravity) to propel ships through space. Since these drives are dependant on the proximity to other massive objects (sun and planets), the effectiveness of these drive drop quickly after about 50AU from a star, so restrict their use to interplanetary travel. Travel by this method usually entails a set thrust (in gravities) to the mid-point (turn-over) of the trip, followed by the ship turning around and decelerating at the same thrust for the same amount of time. Travel times are only limited by how many gravities of force the passengers can withstand. The most advanced ships have gravity-dampeners which allow a ship to accelerate at much higher gravities (i.e. 30G) without negatively affecting the passengers.
Interstellar Travel
The distances between stars is very great compared with interplanetary travel. Although both reaction drives or reactionless drives could allow a ship to travel between star systems, it most cases it would take many decades or even centuries just to reach the nearest neighboring star. For this reason, the advanced technologies of Hyperspace and Star Portals are the only efficient means of traveling between the stars.
- Hyperdrive: Using an advanced field generator, a ship can “punch” from normal-space through hyperspace, referred to as a hypershunt, creating a tunnel similar to a wormhole, but with temporary end points. This is not instantaneous travel however. A period of time, relative to the distance traveled through hyperspace, must still be passed. This transit interval is independent of the ship's velocity when entering the shunt. Changes in velocity cannot be made while in the hypershunt, so the ship will exit at the same velocity that it entered. WARNING: A hypershunt is a straight-line of travel. Attempting to maneuver while in a hypershunt will most likely will result in a fissionable disintegration of the ship.
- Star Portal: This advanced technology, makes use of the very rare mineral Xylite combined with a huge amount of energy to generate a gateway which connects two points in space. Travel through a Star Portal is instant (like stepping through a curtain). However, the farther the distance being crossed, there is an exponential increase in Xylite consumption and energy use, so long jumps are seldom made due to the expense.
Portal Transit Authority
The Star Portal Network of the Republic of Allied World’s is managed exclusively by the Turuk’s Portal Transit Authority (PTA). Each gate is operated by a specially skilled Turuk, coordinating jumps with other operators by way of their connection through Nirana. Pilots/captains enter queues and are provided a scheduled time by the local PTA agent. Non-Republic species are only permitted use of the Star Portal Network by special authorization of the Senate.
Unless the group is leaving the navigation to the professionals, a Navigation (space) check needs to be made for each transit. In the case of Hyerspace travel, it is especially important to accurately plot the course. A minor error might only result in lost time and fuel, but a major error could result in potentially lethal encounters.
| "Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" - Han Solo |
- Calculation Time: 1 minute per parsec distance to travel
- Modified For:
- Total Distance (parsec): 1-10 +0, 11-15 -1, 16-20 -2, 21-25 -3, 26-30 -4, 31-35 -5, 36-40 -6, 41-45 -7, 46+ -8
- Time Spent (B346)
- Navigation System Program Level
- Proximity to solar bodies. Find distance in chart (if less, use next lower value); cannot go less than 500 km.
| 500 km (close orbit) | -10 | 1,000,000 km (0.01 AU) | -6 | 25,000,000 km (0.17 AU) | -2 |
| 5,000 km (low orbit) | -9 | 2,500,000 km (0.02 AU) | -5 | 50,000,000 km (0.33 AU) | -1 |
| 50,000 km (mid orbit) | -8 | 5,000,000 km (0.05 AU) | -4 | 150,000,000 km (1 AU) | +0 |
| 500,000 km (high orbit) | -7 | 10,000,000 km (0.07 AU) | -3 |
Arriving closer to a planet is more challenging and potentially deadly, but it can save a lot of time travelling by reactionless drive to the final destination. For example, at 2G full accel/decel, a medium sized ship crosses 1 AU of space in 48 hours 30 minutes, or 0.05 AU of space in 10 hours 50 minutes.
Failure: results in a 1 parsec miss per margin of failure (1d: 1-2 veer left, 3-4 veer right, 5 up, 6 down). It is possible to end up in uncharted space. A successful navigation check must be made just to determine where the ship has ended up.
Critical Failure: same as with failure, but with additional dire circumstances (1d)
- Slingshot around black hole, multiply miss distance by 10
- Exposure to mysterious radiation: ???
- Arrive deep in a planetary gravity well, Piloting -6 to avoid crash landing
- Veer too close to a star, ship sustains serious damage
- Hyperdrive engine burns out
- Navigation system fries
