Gate

Gates, also known as U-Space Slipgates, were Titan artefacts built during the prime of their empire, that were later recovered and reverse-engineered by the Magdorans.

Gates are Ucrylium-based devices that use the unique properties of its crystalline form to essentially tear controlled holes or tunnels in time-space, opening up a portal into an "exodimension" generally referred to as U-space. In the right arrangements, gates can create portals between two given coordinates, using U-space as a "bridge", to shortcut the time, energy, and physical requirements otherwise needed to travel between the two.

## Configurations

A fully functional Gate generally consists of three main objects, alongside a device to control them: Two gate-rings, and a gate-drive. A gate can function with any combination of the three, to varying degrees of function and efficiency, and while additional gate-rings can be used in one system, the efficiency benefits diminish to practically nothing after two.

### Single and Two Ring Systems

With a single ring, a gate can be made within said ring's circumference. Gates made in a single ring system are limited primarily in range, accuracy, and stability, but the size of the portal is defined by the size of the ring.

With the addition of a second ring, the portal is capable of being "projected" either in front or behind the paired rings, and its size can even be adjusted if both rings are arranged like lenses. In a paired system, portals are significantly more stable and accurate than with a single ring, though any act of projection or size manipulation will cut into this bonus, depending on how much of a difference is made.

### Drive-Only

Gate-drives are capable of generating portals without the presence of a ring, though unlike rings it will instead drag itself and whatever it's attached to through U-space- or in other words, it teleports instead of generating portals. Like rings they are only capable of making a limited "cutout" in spacetime, but fortunately, this "cutout"'s perimeter is defined by comparatively simple Ucrylium circuitry, meaning any suitably designed object can teleport itself and its contents as desired.

### Ring(s) and Drive

When paired with any number of rings, drives massively boost their performance in most areas, to the point that portals can remain somewhat stable after the gates generating them have passed through, for a time.

Drives with either one or two rings are the most common configuration seen on Magdoran capital ships, though most Gate Network ports use only a single ring and a drive.

#### Site-To-Site Gates

In ring-and-drive systems, it is possible to make a "site-to-site" portal- a portal that effectively shrinks the distance between both openings, provided the other end is also being maintained by a similar system. To an outside observer however, no apparent change is made- the exact physics behind this phenomena has not been determined, either. What is known though, is that if such a portal bridge destabilizes, or an object within it attempts to leave (though similar effects will be applied if the reverse is done), the spatial distortion being applied to said object will normalize violently, to the point where many atoms within the object can undergo fission from the forces applied to them.

While this phenomena is readily utilized by Gate Network ports, it is also the primary reason for ports to undergo maintenance, with the constant usage applying great deals of stress to the systems creating the bridges.

## Gate Network

The Gate Network is a network of constantly active Gate portal stations and gate beacons, that spans most of Magdoran and Magdoran-aligned territory.

### U-Space Beacons

An essential component of Gate travel, the U-space beacons, also known generally as nav-beacons, serve to provide reference points inside U-space that correspond with normal space.

The necessity of these beacons comes from the turbulent nature of U-space's topology, with distances between points in normal space fluctuating greatly with time and U-space's "weather".

The design of these beacons is often considered to be ingeniously simple, and incredibly reliable. Each beacon consists of a mirrored pair of navigation and communication arrays, with power generation gear and a gate ring attached to articulating motors on one side. How a beacon enters and maintains U-space is incredibly simple: The gate-ring is activated with no exit coordinates, thus producing only an entrance at the gate's location, and the gate ring is moved so the barer navigation bouy is moved into U-space. Because the half in U-space cannot move without also moving the portal, and because they are intended to be placed in lagrange points, beacons maintain a relatively stable position as long as they are active.

### Gate Network Starport

Ports are an essential component of the Gate Network for civilians with access to them. Maintained by the Stellar Connectivity Council, as with the U-space beacons, these ports provide most essential ammenities for travellers, but primarily provide a number of site-to-site Gates, which lead either to nearby Network ports, or to other major stations in the region.

Gate Network Starports serve a role akin to highways on a planetary surface, seeing the vast majority of long-distance travel for those who have no other methods of making such journeys. Likewise, these stations can be found mostly near heavily populated areas, but other stations serve the same role in the most densely populated regions. Some stations are fully automated, usually because of the region being less travelled or populated, but all stations have some degree of automation in their traffic control suites, to assist in regulating the flow of inward and outbound starships.