Express

The Express is the system of travel lanes of the galaxy. It consists of something like rifts or currents within space which allow for ships to move at super-luminal velocities. It is the Express which allows for Galactic civilization to behave as it does, on such a large scale and with such centralization of states.
The Express is related to the Noosphere, as it is the "mind-sphere" of rational thought/souls and the planetary bodies that they correspond to that provide the anchors for the Express. From one system to another, those which had at some point in the past been filled with sapient beings to a great degree, typically homeworlds of ancient empires, or currently inhabited planets, long threads stretch between anchors and attach regions of space together. These different lanes largely disappear after each Galactic Cycle, forming new connections after new sapient species arise on different planets. Although the shadow of the noospheres of great planets stay around for incredible amounts of time, thus allowing the new cycle's races to travel along the Express even in a dead galaxy.
Express lanes, although stretching from one system directly to another, can be hopped off of along the way in order to access other systems that lie along the route. By these means, many originally life-devoid planets and systems were colonized by space empires. In order to access these systems, and indeed to be able to navigate the threads of the Express at all, it is necessary for the ship to be in possession of either an Express Drive, a psionically gifted individual, or both. The latter in particular is necessary in order to stay on the course of the Express. Without someone who can envision the threads of the Express, the unpredictable twists and turns of the Express inherent over the course of light years of travel will result in the ship or fleet's ejection from the threads.