Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
Traveller Map link to the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route crossing the Great Rift as of Imperial 1105.
LINK to clean image capture (4096 × 3381 pixels at 300 dpi) of 16 of 16 subsectors of the Riftspan Reaches sector (Aslan dominated) plus 12 of 16 subsectors of the Verge sector (Imperial dominated) in Imperial year 1105.
LINK to starship navigator's portolan styled chart (4096 × 3380 pixels at 300 dpi) modifying the above clean image to include markers for type A and B starports (white and magenta hexagons respectively) plus their mainworld technology levels. This information is needed to know where starship annual maintenance is possible within the Great Rift where high technology is not always easily obtainable. Additionally, distances (in parsecs) between star systems of 4+ parsecs are represented by double ended arrows using the following color coding:
While the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route crossing the Great Rift between coreward and rimward regions of the Aslan Hierate is mostly a Jump-3 route, with one Jump-4 and two Jump-5 needed to make the transit across the rift within the Riftspan Reaches sector, there is also a Jump-6 route (the Verge Connector, known even in Antebellum times of 210-604) through which it is possible to reach Imperial territory in the Verge sector via two different Jump-6 routes branching off from the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route. It was through the Verge Connector that Vampire Ships were able to attack the Aslan Hierate bringing about the Collapse post-1130 (Imperial) in the OTU in this region of Charted Space.
Of significant note is that along the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route every single star system explicitly on the route has at least 1 gas giant in system, allowing starships with partially streamlined hulls to conduct wilderness refueling after every jump. Furthermore, there is even an alternate route through the Great Rift which requires an additional one Jump-4 and one Jump-5 compared to the "main" route (which also has at least 1 gas giant in every star system) which does not take any longer to traverse than the "main" route through the sector.
For a VERY LONG time, the only way to traverse the Riftspan Reaches sector would have been to use extended range starships, almost all of which would have needed sufficient fuel capacity to make multiple jumps in order to transit the long distances in between star systems. Only with a Jump-5 capacity can the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route crossing be made using single jumps, and only with a Jump-6 capacity can the Verge Connector crossing be made using single jumps.
However, with multiple jumps, starships with Jump-1 through Jump-4 capacity CAN navigate with a larger fuel fraction than a mere single jump, so at lower technologies specialized starships are capable of making transits across the Riftspan Reaches sector from coreward to rimward as well as spinward to trailing in 2+ jumps given sufficient fuel capacity to do so. While these higher fuel capacities would not ordinarily be economically viable options elsewhere in Charted Space due to losses in cargo capacity relative to other options in starship design and construction, in the depths of the Great Rift such specialized modifications become the absolute bare minimum for being able to conduct interstellar travel and business AT ALL. Since starships without sufficient jump range (by single or multiple jumps) cannot operate successfully in this region of Charted Space except for very localized service in the Jump-1 main found in the Aokiylair subsector and extending into the adjacent Ryuhleiea subsector along the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route starships with extended range capacity beyond a single jump are quite common.
One of the ways to achieve the necessary range for starships that require 2+ jumps to reach their destination(s) is use of a Collapsible Fuel Tank in their cargo holds to achieve the necessary fuel fraction to complete their transit. While use of this option does come at a cost to cargo capacity when used, a Collapsible Fuel Tank does ensure that round trips can be made to star systems which do not locally manufacture Drop Tanks at one or both ends of a long(er) range transit than a starship is capable of in a single jump. Use of a Collapsible Fuel Tank is often preferred as a long term lower cost alternative to use of Drop Tanks, particularly by cost conscious Pursers, which on Aslan crewed starships a Purser is required (Cr 5000 per month crew salary) in order to conduct any business or merchant activity at all (and they must be female since male Aslan by default culturally do not understand money).
For star systems 7+ parsecs distant from each other, in the absence of a Calibration Point, either deep space fuel caches or the use of Drop Tanks (which can be reused when dropped before jumping) will often times be needed in order to make 2+ jumps across such vast interstellar distances. Star systems with type A and B starports will almost always have Drop Tanks services available for use, with some of the more "popular" tank sizes in almost continuous low level production to meet demand and attrition losses as older tanks age out of useful service over time after repeated use.
In Aslan controlled space, Drop Tank tonnages will preferentially trend towards tonnages that are multiples of 8 (because the Aslan language Trokh uses a base-8 numbering system) rather than a preference for multiples of 10 as is commonly seen in sectors dominated by Humaniti. Fortunately the two numbering systems "intersect" every 40 tons (base-10)/50 tons (base-8) somewhat conveniently. When employed using proper procedures, Drop Tanks can be reused (the jumping starship leaves them behind for recovery).
Other tonnages (besides integer multiples of 8) can be constructed for Drop Tanks of course, but they will often times need to be a custom order from Aslan shipyards which would usually take 10 weeks to fabricate. Consequently, most starship designs intending to make use of Drop Tanks arrange to use the more "standard" tonnages that come in multiples of 8 due to the expense (in delays) of waiting for a "non-standard" tonnage to be fabricated, tested and delivered for what may wind up being a single use. In Imperial controlled space, the reverse will tend to be true, with tonnages in multiples of 10 being more the norm and multiples of 8 being less common and needing to be custom ordered (with all the delays for construction that would necessarily entail).
LINK to clean image capture (4096 × 3381 pixels at 300 dpi) of 16 of 16 subsectors of the Riftspan Reaches sector (Aslan dominated) plus 12 of 16 subsectors of the Verge sector (Imperial dominated) in Imperial year 1105.
LINK to starship navigator's portolan styled chart (4096 × 3380 pixels at 300 dpi) modifying the above clean image to include markers for type A and B starports (white and magenta hexagons respectively) plus their mainworld technology levels. This information is needed to know where starship annual maintenance is possible within the Great Rift where high technology is not always easily obtainable. Additionally, distances (in parsecs) between star systems of 4+ parsecs are represented by double ended arrows using the following color coding:
- Green = 4 parsecs
- Cyan = 5 parsecs
- Yellow = 6 parsecs
- Orange = 7 parsecs
- Red = 8+ parsecs
While the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route crossing the Great Rift between coreward and rimward regions of the Aslan Hierate is mostly a Jump-3 route, with one Jump-4 and two Jump-5 needed to make the transit across the rift within the Riftspan Reaches sector, there is also a Jump-6 route (the Verge Connector, known even in Antebellum times of 210-604) through which it is possible to reach Imperial territory in the Verge sector via two different Jump-6 routes branching off from the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route. It was through the Verge Connector that Vampire Ships were able to attack the Aslan Hierate bringing about the Collapse post-1130 (Imperial) in the OTU in this region of Charted Space.
Of significant note is that along the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route every single star system explicitly on the route has at least 1 gas giant in system, allowing starships with partially streamlined hulls to conduct wilderness refueling after every jump. Furthermore, there is even an alternate route through the Great Rift which requires an additional one Jump-4 and one Jump-5 compared to the "main" route (which also has at least 1 gas giant in every star system) which does not take any longer to traverse than the "main" route through the sector.
For a VERY LONG time, the only way to traverse the Riftspan Reaches sector would have been to use extended range starships, almost all of which would have needed sufficient fuel capacity to make multiple jumps in order to transit the long distances in between star systems. Only with a Jump-5 capacity can the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route crossing be made using single jumps, and only with a Jump-6 capacity can the Verge Connector crossing be made using single jumps.
However, with multiple jumps, starships with Jump-1 through Jump-4 capacity CAN navigate with a larger fuel fraction than a mere single jump, so at lower technologies specialized starships are capable of making transits across the Riftspan Reaches sector from coreward to rimward as well as spinward to trailing in 2+ jumps given sufficient fuel capacity to do so. While these higher fuel capacities would not ordinarily be economically viable options elsewhere in Charted Space due to losses in cargo capacity relative to other options in starship design and construction, in the depths of the Great Rift such specialized modifications become the absolute bare minimum for being able to conduct interstellar travel and business AT ALL. Since starships without sufficient jump range (by single or multiple jumps) cannot operate successfully in this region of Charted Space except for very localized service in the Jump-1 main found in the Aokiylair subsector and extending into the adjacent Ryuhleiea subsector along the J-5 Trans Hierate Trade Route starships with extended range capacity beyond a single jump are quite common.
One of the ways to achieve the necessary range for starships that require 2+ jumps to reach their destination(s) is use of a Collapsible Fuel Tank in their cargo holds to achieve the necessary fuel fraction to complete their transit. While use of this option does come at a cost to cargo capacity when used, a Collapsible Fuel Tank does ensure that round trips can be made to star systems which do not locally manufacture Drop Tanks at one or both ends of a long(er) range transit than a starship is capable of in a single jump. Use of a Collapsible Fuel Tank is often preferred as a long term lower cost alternative to use of Drop Tanks, particularly by cost conscious Pursers, which on Aslan crewed starships a Purser is required (Cr 5000 per month crew salary) in order to conduct any business or merchant activity at all (and they must be female since male Aslan by default culturally do not understand money).
For star systems 7+ parsecs distant from each other, in the absence of a Calibration Point, either deep space fuel caches or the use of Drop Tanks (which can be reused when dropped before jumping) will often times be needed in order to make 2+ jumps across such vast interstellar distances. Star systems with type A and B starports will almost always have Drop Tanks services available for use, with some of the more "popular" tank sizes in almost continuous low level production to meet demand and attrition losses as older tanks age out of useful service over time after repeated use.
In Aslan controlled space, Drop Tank tonnages will preferentially trend towards tonnages that are multiples of 8 (because the Aslan language Trokh uses a base-8 numbering system) rather than a preference for multiples of 10 as is commonly seen in sectors dominated by Humaniti. Fortunately the two numbering systems "intersect" every 40 tons (base-10)/50 tons (base-8) somewhat conveniently. When employed using proper procedures, Drop Tanks can be reused (the jumping starship leaves them behind for recovery).
Other tonnages (besides integer multiples of 8) can be constructed for Drop Tanks of course, but they will often times need to be a custom order from Aslan shipyards which would usually take 10 weeks to fabricate. Consequently, most starship designs intending to make use of Drop Tanks arrange to use the more "standard" tonnages that come in multiples of 8 due to the expense (in delays) of waiting for a "non-standard" tonnage to be fabricated, tested and delivered for what may wind up being a single use. In Imperial controlled space, the reverse will tend to be true, with tonnages in multiples of 10 being more the norm and multiples of 8 being less common and needing to be custom ordered (with all the delays for construction that would necessarily entail).
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