FTL Travel

Faster-Than-Light or FTL refers to methods that transfer matter and/or information faster than the speed of light. This is a frequently discussed issue in physics and current standpoint deems it impossible. Yet FTL travel is a very essential plot element for Science Fiction, including our roleplaying session "From Stardust to Stardust: Tales of Andromeda". Without FTL methods no interstellar travel would be plausible.

## Common FTL Methods

Faster-than-light travel is a reoccurring scientific topic for over half a century and thus there are many popular methods which are generally used by Sci-Fi authors to reach it.

### Warp

By warping space-time a ship can theoretically travel at slower than light speeds while their apparent velocity exceeds it. This method gains rising popularity with the Alcubierre drive, a theoretical real world design promised to do exactly just this. Albeit unlike fiction its feasibility is currently rather contested.

### Wormholes

These are effectively tunnels in space-time connecting two distant points. Theoretically these can be "short-cuts" to reach distant stars much faster. Wormholes are popular topic among astrophysicists but their existence and especially their plausibility to allow FTL travel are uncertain.

### Hyperspace Jump

By making an opening to other dimension with conveniently different laws of physics the ship can travel faster than light and then return to "normal space". This method has no real basis in physics but after Star Wars it became a popular way to "handwave" away the typical issue with interstellar travel.

### Extra Dimensional Travel

By having the ship travel in spatial dimensions more than three the travel distances can theoretically become shorter. While the physics behind this are arguably true, the method to accomplish this is nothing but imaginary for now. This FtL travel mechanism is less popular than the three above but occasionally shows, although in effect it's often similar to the popular "jump drives".

### Tachyons

Einstein's theory of relativity doesn't exclude particles that always travel faster than light. These are the tachyons and they are often mentioned in Sci-Fi. While there are works that feature turning ships entirely into tachyonic particles to travel these aren't really common. Tachyons are more popularly used for communication or other means to either receive or transmit information faster than light.

## FTL Technologies in From Stardust to Stardust: Tales of Andromeda

Nearly every civilization in the roleplaying session of "From Stardust to Stardust: Tales of Andromeda" has their own unique method of FTL travel. The list bellow collects most of these examples:

### Julius-Corvus Trans-Dimensional Device

The Julius-Corvus Trans-Dimensional Device, so named after the two Triarii who invented the device, is the device used by the Collective of Civilised Species for interstellar transport that is erroneously termed as a form of "Faster than light" travel by some species. works by utilizing some of the same technology utilized in bringing dark energy into the standard universe from it's exotic counterpart. By cutting into the separate dimension where the laws of physics are different which allows the new object to travel at speeds faster than light with am extremely low amount of power. This dimension is also on another scale to what the Collective has termed the "Primary" dimension, but locations are relevant in the "Secondary" dimension to the "Primary" which means that all distances traveled in the "Secondary" dimension are greatly amplified in the "Primary" dimension. However, the passage of time is not relative from the "Primary" to the "Secondary" dimension. For each second passed in the "Primary" two years are passed in the "Secondary", thus meaning that all transport is nearly instantaneous. This creates quantum fluctuations around the ships entrance and exit points which allow it to 'replace' matter sharing the same location as it's exit point which will either be consumed by leaking dark energy around the 'portal' or be forced into the "secondary" universe, usually with disastrous consequences. This process however, can cause the exiting ship to also be consumed by the dark energy and thus it is not advised that Collective commanders ever attempt to exit inside other objects. The exponential energy produced by this would almost certainly disrupt electronics and thus ship to ship coordination even if the exiting ship was not destroyed. Due to the nature of the relationship between the two universes, the Collective has been able to enter systems in perfect formation and even make precise jumps during combat to avoid damage or to confuse the enemy.

### Zeitenschwerkraft-antrieb

In short described as "Warp Drive" this is the Morte Empire's own method to travel interstellar distances. It uses supercompressed matter-antimatter reactions to generate a warp field which among other effects warps space-time around the ship to make its apparent speed faster than light. This is a reliable albeit slow method of travel, only allowing Mortean ships to pass up to a few lightyears in a day. On the other hand this method allows FTL within real space. Combined with their warp-based sensors and weaponry this could give an unusual advantage for the Morte during combat.

### Dimensional Buoyancy Drive

Stardard Abh Dimensional Buoyancy Drives create a crack in the barrier between dimensions using extreme amounts of energy, allowing the vessel in question to move "Up" to the fifth dimension. As one goes "Up" in dimensions, distances are compressed, allowing the equivalent of 100c travel under antimatter drives. If this was the only phenomenon is use, then the Dimensional Buoyancy Drive would be one of the slower FTL drives, with others having significantly higher speeds. However, in the fifth dimension, time as we know it is represented physically. Thus, starships are capable of arriving at the same moment they left. All vessels that have tried to arrive before they left have been lost, and most species that develop the drive never even attempt it. The crews of such vessels have to go through the normal transit time, and thus decidacted spacers utilizing this drive will often die a significant amount of time before their counterparts utilizing more common drives.