Ripspace

Ripspace is a mysterious, chaotic dimension completely separate from realspace. It is dominated by swirling energy currents capable of tearing ships in two or converting tiny bits of matter into pure energy. While it is separate from realspace, it has very close ties to it, allowing it to be accessed with relative ease. Ripspace, on the surface, seems like a place where nobody would ever want to go, but in reality it can be used as a fast method of FTL travel. The hostility of Ripspace can be curbed by the use of a Rip Drive, which allows ships to survive by providing a shield of sorts against the energy currents. The Rip Drive also keeps the link between realspace and Ripspace stable, so that the vessel can remain inside without being forcibly ejected and probably destroyed in the process.

Ripspace is useful as an FTL drive because although it is slower than Warp, it is faster than Hyperdrive and requires less energy than Warp. It does so at the expense of drive charge time. It can take anywhere from five to fifteen minutes to fully charge a Rip Drive and enter a Rupture. How fast depends on the technology of the drive and how much power is being dumped into it. Ships are also undetectable within Ripspace, the only trace of them being some energy currents at their destination. The currents are very faint and can only be detected by subspace sensor technology, and even then only at short range, within 250,000 kilometers. However, this relative undectability comes crashing down the moment a ship enters or exits Ripspace. When a Rupture is formed, it would be visible to everything within two lightyears. This is due to the massive amounts of energy released when a breach to Ripspace is created.

Any ships which attempt to enter Ripspace or are caught in the Rupture are destroyed instantly if they lack an active Rip Drive. Even a ship in posession of a Rip Drive will be destroyed if it is inactive. Ships opening Ruptures must maintain a distance of at least 20 kilometers from any objects, because while even if the objects are not directly inside of the Rupture, the energy currents spilling out from Ripspace could still damage or destroy them. As a result of this, care must be taken when jumping into another system, so that the Ruptures do not damage anything on the other side.

Ripspace is not recommended as a form of short range tactical FTL. While it can be used for in-system jumps, things like jumping from one side of a planet to the other are inefficient and also present a high margin of error. Jumping from one planet to another, is, however, easy and not nearly as risky. All Ripspace jumps do, however, require very precise calculations as to where the exit Rupture will open. Once inside of Ripspace, a ship cannot safely exit until it reaches its destination. Emergency exits from Ripspace are possible, but are very risky and often result in heavy damage or destruction of the ship. This manuever is reserved only for emergencies or cases where it is absolutely necessary.

Some form of radiation shielding is required to survive in Ripspace, be it energy shields or lead in the armor of a ship. The dimension is constantly bathed in ionizing radiation like gamma rays and x rays, which would kill unprotected organic life in under an hour. Even a small amount of exposure can cause severe damage.

With sufficient technology, Ruptures can be "Stabilized". Unstable Ruptures are the most common kind, and are created by ships when they enter and exit Ripspace. Stable Ruptures are considerably less common, requiring advanced technology to create and maintain. Stable Ruptures are much more calm than unstable ones, and as a result also allow for much quicker travel. The energy currents, rather than randomly lashing out into the space around it, swirl inwards into the Rupture. Stable Ruptures can remain open indefinitely, as long as they are provided with sufficient energy on both sides. This allows nations with sufficient technology to create gates between different locations. However, the amount of energy fed to the Rupture has to be precise, or else it will simply collapse or, if given too much energy, grow exponentially. At some point in its growth, it will collapse in on itself. When a Rupture collapses in this manner, it results in a large explosion.