Astral Jump Tech

History

In the later years of the reign of Vespasian I "The Conqueror" Saikar, advanced Technomancers experimenting with the Weaver gifted technomancies, uncovered an exciting possibility. With the application of enough energy from the Ley Field, it was possible to cause major bending of the field, and thus the fabric of spacetime, to shorten the distances between locations. It became the most researched field of the time, by professionals and amateurs alike, as they fought to be the first to unlock the secret to FTL travel.

The secret, it turned out, was a specifically manufactured, Channeling Megacrystals, and an extremely fine tuned energy level application. Each Jump needed to be precisely calculated for the mass travelling and the distance being travelled, in order to draw the two points in the field as close together as possible without making contact. In close proximity, the energy would form a sort of tunnel that could be traversed. During this traversal, the ships travelling the space would be forced into @Warp, a chaotic and dangerous parallel dimension, for the duration of the journey.

If the two points touched, it would result in a catastrophic energy release that would send damaging ripples through the ley field pathways, sometimes creating a ley field tear. This tear acted as a gateway between the two dimensions, and its duration could not be predicted. After decades of uncontrolled research, the Technomancer's officially banned further study by amateurs, but not before the ability to utilize the tech was mastered.

Some of the larger Saikar astral ships were equipped with advanced Astral Jump Drives, allowing them to make Jumps from anywhere to anywhere, to ensure the security of the Empire. However, for everyday use, cross Warp Space was considered too dangerous.

The Astral Jump Gates were designed to mitigate risk and reduce Warp Space traversal time to a mere moment or two, by locking in set addresses, with perfected energy level values, offering safe and mostly uneventful FTL travel for the average civilian ship.

However, size is a huge factor in performing a Jump. The Astral Link Network was designed as a Jump method for individuals or smalls groups of people. This method worked similarly to the Gates, with locked address marked by runic circles. However, the significantly reduced power draw and more permanent, intwerwoven network of address, allowed travellers to move so instantaneously that they were incapable of noticing they ever entered Warp Space at all.

It was because of these improvements, as well as big buyouts to early scientists, that the Empire was able to almost completely hide the existence of the Warp entirely. 99% of Jumpers have no idea that they touch another dimension during their trip.