FTL (Faster Than Light) travel.

Hyperspace:-

In order for ships to travel at FTL speeds they must enter a parallel realm known as hyperspace. The best way to picture hyperspace is to draw a triangle with a flat baseline and two sloping sides. Now about three quarters of the way up from the baseline draw a line parallel to the baseline between the two sidelines. The baseline is real space and the parallel line is hyperspace. Every point in real space has a corresponding point in hyperspace.

While ships travelling thru hyperspace don't actually travel faster than light, because they use their standard engines, they are travelling a much shorter distance and so complete the journey quicker. To explain return to your drawn triangle. Now draw two lines from the apex to the baseline. The gap between these lines at the parallel line is shorter than at the baseline. This is why journeys that would take decades in real space at the speed of light only take days or weeks in hyperspace.

Hyperspace is a vast energy field that appears to be green in color, tho the actual shade of green varies from light (almost white) to dark (almost black) and the patterns are continually shifting. This energy field has an infinite number of currents in constant motion and anything travelling thru hyperspace must battle with these currents.

Jump Points:-

Jump points, also known as a jump vortex, is a passageway between real space and hyperspace. They have different colors depending on if it was originated in real space or hyperspace. If originated in real space it is yellow in color, while if it was originated in hyperspace it is blue. As with hyperspace the shade varies from pale to dark. Ships can only pass one way thru a vortex, so a ship can not enter hyperspace thru an exit vortex. When a jump point opens in real space from hyperspace there is a massive energy spike that can be detected. The chance of detection depends on many factors including, the size of the jump point, and distance of detector from jump point.

Jump Wash:-

Jump wash is the term used to describe the affect in close proximity to a jump point. At the originating end things in close proximity get pulled into the jump point. Sometimes fully other times only partially. If it gets pulled in fully it will enter hyperspace but would quite probably suffer damage. If it is only partially pulled in it will reapear in real space some distance from its starting position. Again it will most likely suffer damage. On the far end any ship in proximaity to the opening will be buffeted away from the opening. if too close to the opening the ship will be heavily damaged and probably destroyed.

Mass Shadows:-

With the exception of ships passing thru it, nothing but energy exists in hyperspace. However, everything in real space that has a gravity well creates a mass shadow in hyperspace. The energy currents in hyperspace are in constant motion between these mass shadows. Mass shadows are what allows a ship to navigate the energy currents in hyperspace. A ships sensors plot the mass shadows and the navigation computer plots the real space location.

Jump Engines:-

Officially called vortex generators, but now colloquially known as jump engines. These vortex generators use massive amounts of power to create a jump point between real space and hyperspace. Most ships keep a charge stored in the jump engine as it takes several hours to build up a sufficient charge to open a vortex. Once the charge has been drained it is common practice to immediately recharge the jump engine. The size of a ships jump engine, and therefore the size of the jump point it generates, depends on the mass of the ship it is installed on. The bigger the ship, the more powerful the jump engine needs to be.

Transit Points:-

Transit points are regions in a star system free from any gravitional interference from the stellar and planetary bodies, where a ship can safely exit hyperspace. These regions invariably exist many hours, possibly even days, of travel away from any planetary body. As nearly all manmade structures orbit a planet or moon, etc it means that a ship exiting hyperspace still has a long iourney ahead of it. Navigation computers are programmed with all known transit points. In theory a ship can emerge from hyperspace anywhere, however a minor navigational error in hyperspace is a major one in real space, and could result in the ships destuction. As such no navigation computer will allow use of jump engine away from a transit point. As hyperspace is empty the reverse does not apply and a ship can enter hyperspace from anywhere in a system. Common practice upon arrival at a transit point is to clear the area ay best speed to avoid jump wash. Most transit points are ringed with a network of detector beacons to inform the various inerested parties when a new arrival enters a system.

Pirate Points:-

Also known as smuggler points, these are similar to transit points in that they are regions free of gravitational interference, but with one major difference. Pirate points lie within the potential gravitation influence of planetary bodies and so come and go as time goes by. Pirate points never last more than a few months. No navigation computer will allow the use of a pirate point and so it must be done manually. The advantage of using a pirate point is that it gets you closer to your destination. Few individuals outside the military or criminal groups would even consider making use of a pirate point, and even then only the best navigators are likely to be able to make successful use of the pirate point.