Voidcraft & Comm Technology
A nullfield is a bubble generated by subjecting a nullstone to an electrical current, usually no greater than the output of a standard-issue fusion reactor. Nullstones are dense crystalline compounds refined from Amberdust - exotic matter formed in the corona of a few specific stars (usually more massive stars, as well as black holes or pulsars). Isolated nullfields provide no propulsion of their own, and merely maintain the velocity of their nullstone at the moment of generation. When in nullspace, ships effectively "drift", unable to change their course in realspace until the field comes down. Nullfields form a barrier from realspace (rendering the ship inside invisible and blind), but are disturbed and often destroyed by even slight changes in gravity - from stars and planets, to smaller objects like ships and asteroids, to other nullfields (and FTL inhibitors). Because of that, they are not often used for in-system flight, though they can serve as impromptu shields or cloaking devices in emptier patches of realspace. |
A hyperlane (more formally a null manifold) is a stretched, low-energy nullfield that seems to randomly and naturally generate between heavy enough stars. Null manifolds link a "positive" and a "negative" end (or singularity) together. Null singularities are invisible. Their presence can be predicted by analysing gravometric disturbances or by detecting the Ogodei radiation that is known to leak from the manifold. A manifold is significantly stronger and more stable than a standard nullfield. For instance, low-mass ships and structures in realspace do not interact or significantly disturb it like they would a normal nullfield. Moreover, a nullfield that is precisely calibrated to match a manifold's unique quantum energy profile and is charged appropriately will interact with it and be propelled towards the opposite singularity at non-relativistic speeds. Travel across a hyperlane is much faster than conventional, non-FTL travel : of the 15 days typically required by a freighter to cross from one system to the next, only perhaps a couple are spent crossing the impossible distances in hyperspace. |
A ship entering hyperspace starts by plotting a course to its desired singularity. Because comms and radars cannot break in or out of nullfields, the crew must book an approach slot in advance with local traffic control and keep to its designated schedule. The ship will generate and calibrate its nullfield hours before the entry, then keep on drifting towards the singularity. Once the ship reaches the singularity, the nullfields will interact, propelling the vessel forward. The impossible discharge of energy or accelerations are not felt by the crew, thankfully, and the ship is "spat out" at the other singularity, where it disables its field as fast as possible and clears out of the approach vector. The wrong charge, poor calibrations or unintended gravitational interactions can lead to a nullfield's catastrophic failure. The consequences can be dire; power can surge back into the ship's power systems, or a manifold can hurtle a ship impossibly far from friendly realspace. In the worst cases, a dimensional incursion can occur as realspace "pours into" a damaged nullfield. This results in the obliteration of anything within the collapsing field and within a relatively small area of realspace around it. |
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There are no FTL comms beyond the experimental and cost-ineffective manipulation of the principes of quantum entanglement. What is known as tightbeam communications are used within systems, sometimes improved by a network of comm buoys in the more fortunate systems. Near-instant comms are normally only truly possible when all participants are located within light-seconds.
Internet or intranet networks exist in isolation on colonies and outposts and are typically accessible by all enfranchised populations. The biggest networks are taking part in the Extranet Initiative : each network's most browsed content is archived according to a complicated algorythm that takes time sensitivity or previous archival into account, then uploaded on either specialized courier ships or normal civilian trade vessels. Archives are then downloaded at and integrated with each port of call down the line. The daisy chain of information is meant to homogenize Internet content across Zaalan space; however, remains limited by the speed of ships. Emails and communications are also sent this way; local ISPs can buy premium data storage aboard dedicated courier ships. Most clan-state militaries also have a similar system. |
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Credit units are an electronic accounting and operating currency that is tied to the local currencies of 18 colonies or homeworld territories. Credits are more commonly known as "mools" - also the name for the currency of the Ajil Trade League. Credits act as a standardized bridge to facilitate trading amongst colonies; they form a loose monetary union.
Local currencies are still in use in day-to-day business, and they also tend to be electronic. Murgori still uses actual coins and tokens alongside electronic payments; in addition, credits transfered across systems are sometimes uploaded as "electronic cheques" and physically transported on ships. As credits are proofed by blockchain technology and with the advent of the astropath network, however, this practice is expected to end within the half-century. |
Recent breakthrough have led to the establishment of a primitive astropath network, where clusters of entangled quantum particles are linked together and manipulated to transmit data at faster-than-light speeds. This method is significantly more expensive and, due to entangled particles affecting each other, bandwidth is much lower and limited by the practical size of clusters, as well as that of the "switchboards" in each system that coordinate each pair of clusters. However, it is nearly unhackable and a message can be relayed almost instantly across the astropath network, from switchboard to switchboard. Using the network is expensive; military fleets have priority access to that bandwidth, followed by Assembly and clan-state organizations and later private companies and civilians. Parallel to the civilian astropaths, Hlinka, Qesir and Cheimka military ships have their own astropath network. The technology is similar but more centralized : smaller clusters aboard most ships and linked to one massive switchboard in their fleet's respective HQ. This has the advantage of eliminating unnecessary delays and the signal degradation that occurs at each switchboard, however, since comms are only possible from the ship to the master switchboard, the destruction or disabling of the Tower of Dawn would suddenly and heavily disrupt fleetwide communications. |