Stargate

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Stargates, also termed interstellar tunnels, use massive amounts of solar power to warp spacetime in order to literally reduce the distance between two such devices. While similar in concept to a wormhole, they do not bypass any intervening spacetime, and the gates are forced to remain nearly at rest with respect to one another. The only motion they undergo is modification to accommodate changes in distance and vector between two stars.

Like hyperspace points, in order to function, they need to be 'anchored' to a large mass - about a third of that needed for a hyperspacial anchor, or a little over half a solar mass. The first such gates had a maximum reach of a bit over four parsecs when formed, though later, more refined models can stretch close to twelve. Once so anchored, and the necessary energy densities established, a proper stargate will become a stable feature of the stars it binds. It will expand and contract to accommodate true velocity between the two, and actually work slightly to retard this motion.

Physically, the tunnel itself is exceedingly tiny when viewed from the outside - smaller than an atom, it is actually possible for ships to fly through it. The inside, on the other hand, is several kilometers in diameter, though the actual depth is only a few millimeters. The physical hulls of each gate are joined together on the inside, to help prevent collisions and to maintain the field.

A hemispherical cap covers each mouth, maintaining the 'spacial bleed' region surrounding each, which performs the reverse of what the stargate does - increasing the volume of space in a region between the gate and its host star. Thus, in order to make a superluminal transit between two stars, a ship cannot fly straight through, but must instead weave through in an s-pattern.

Once established, a well-built gate will use its altering of spacetime geometry to reinforce it - making them extremely difficult to destroy as immense tidal forces rip apart kinetic projectiles and redshift light to 'safer' values. Most stargates are not destroyed in combat, but rather by stellar motion bringing the path of two stargates to cross each other. This creates a violent reaction similar to a matter-antimatter one, releasing the immense energies used in their construction. Because of this, engineers are rarely too zealous about making the web of stargates 'too thick'.

If a star's motion should take it outside the gates' mutual range, their deactivation is usually much less dramatic, with the energy slowly being released over the course of several years on each side. The gate can then be used to link to a new star, deconstructed for raw materials, etc. On the other end, gates being actively linked are also generally quite visible, as the host star's light is usually focussed into such a tight beam that it fluoresces the interplanetary medium.

Pre-Purge Gates

Only two sorts of hyperspace jump points can be considered permanent - those anchored to a large neutron star or quark star, and those anchored to a black hole. For the renlai and soronen, this was no big deal - the former built the system and the latter eventually figured out how to exploit it.

For the Triad, this meant that their growth was entirely dependent on what the First cared to provide to them, which was merely the means to relink stargates to nearby star systems, along with access to several jump points so that they could coordinate assaults on newborn cerevate races should they find them. While extremely generous of them, they never properly understood how these mechanisms worked, and could not grow beyond the limits of those gates that they were able to activate.

Even still, this left them in control of millions of stars. Even before the Purge, they were constantly near fracture, only blind theocracy holding them together.

Human Gates

Humans began constructing their stargates in waves. The first wave went to the nearest eight 'major' stars, of around .6 Solar masses and higher.

Additional second-wave gates:

Inside the Solar System, the eight gates were locked some distance outside Neptune's orbit. Since the Diaspora and the formation of the dreadskearns, it is still possible to use these 'gates' - or at least what they've become - to cross to the others. Most generally prefer not to run the gauntlet and take other routes, instead. The drastically increased mass of the hellskearn has kept the first and second-wave gates within range, though several crossings have required management.


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