SLT Travel

SLT Travel

During humanity's expansion into the Void, transportation technology inadvertently discovered a revolutionary new way to surpass faster-than-light travel, without the use of artificial wormholes or drive engines known as waveform reactors. The method was dubbed Supra Light Travel, or SLT. What made SLT so unique was the ability to traverse a single light year in 0.00001 seconds.

The more widely used nomenclature, the Sea of Mists, is a termed misnomer to fog banks that appear when colder ocean currents meet with warmer ocean currents. During the days of early terrestrial sea travel, these fog banks would often disorient and bewilder ships. Travel through the SLT placed the pilot of that ship within a three dimensional substructure of the Void. Within its confines there is no visually discernible reference between an asteroid or planet, a sun or black hole, anomaly or nebulae. It is, in a figurative sense, like a fog or a mist.

The only reference that something even exists outside of the SLT is the gravity seat generated by the celestial body being held in place by this massive substructure. The Sea of Mists is, in essence, a substructure of the universe; a quasi-gravitational existence in a three-dimensional space that connects the underpinnings of the material and immaterial universe. By accessing this substructure, ships are theoretically able to travel the length of the universe within three lifetimes, though this has never proven due to the unforgiving nature of the substructure and the fact that the universe is ever expanding and changing.

Inexplicably, the location of the posterns became a vital matter of sovereign involvement as these points remained constant despite the universe's expansion, allowing ships larger than a relative mass of hundred metric tonnes to enter without the need of a Supra Light Travel Postern Generator or SLTPG.

Ships smaller than one hundred metric tonnes (the golden constant) could enter the SLT with the use of a SLTPG, but due to the enormous power requirements, it was a costly matter to equip any ships larger than the golden constant. What made SLTPG viable was that SLT engineers were able to adapt older, more reliable technology. The use of Ultra Capacity Hybrid Capacitors or UCHC mitigated the need for massive power generation to open a temporary postern. The properties of the UCHC included the ability to release high output energy into an SLTPG that would in turn open a twenty second window into the SLT, enough time to allow smaller ships to speed through. This technique opened the universe to adventurers and khaosgraphers.

The art of khaosgraphy was birthed and adopted as a means to map the perilous substructure. Their main responsibility is to identify the gravity seats and compile detailed information relating to real Void space so it can be used by larger ships traveling within the Sea of Mists. Khaosgraphers are also known for discovering posterns and selling that information at auction. Though a treacherously dangerous endeavor, fortunes have been made by the men and women who navigated the unknown places of the Void. This is what led to the rise of the SLT Pirate Empires.

Ships with a relative mass larger than the golden constant add an exponential component to the formulae used when traveling within the Sea of Mists. The increase in relative weight creates a phenomenon known as the Winds.

The Winds is a shift of direction within the substructure of the universe that creates a leap between three points. This leap, causes a visual disorientation and a change in the X, Y and Z axes. The development of the ArGNA system removed the danger of larger convoys being swept up by the Winds, by creating a 'beam of light' much like the lighthouses of antiquity. As part of the ArGNA system, all ships are hard-wired and hard-coded with triple ArGNA beacon signals: home port, port of call, and spotters.

Yet, even with all the safety measures in place, things do not always work as intended. Un-vetted posterns are known as the doldrums. These are places in the SLT where the maximum distance from both home port and port of call are exceeded.

Spotters are exclusively used for large fleet deployments. These small ships (usually autonomous or piloted drones, though sometimes fully-staffed ships) offer navigational guidance and substructure reconnaissance to minimize the effects of the doldrums and to provide a buffer in the event the Winds take flight.

Due to the perils of SLT travel, Galactic Law instituted that all ships larger than the golden constant be equipped with the Villein System. The Villein System is a sub-sequence HC/HW emergency life support nullification apparatus that automatically activates within the SLT in the event that contact with port of call and home port beacons are lost for more than 162 days. Its subroutines cut off all life support to said ship. This system was implemented to remove the threat of Void madness, a psychological disorder that afflicts the human mind when stranded during Void travel.

This time frame was the standard until a 57-year-old investigation into the events of the Tragedy added an addendum to the Villein System, effectively replacing the six-month period with the now infamous 336 hours.