"Initial exploration revealed that the spike drives had a maximum range before the corrosive effect of the metadimensional environment fatally degraded their protective bubbles of mundane space. It was necessary to hop from star to star, reaching more distant stellar bodies by progressive advance."
— Excerpt from Making of the Empire: An Overview of Pre-Mandate Technology
Interstellar Travel
The spike drive is the oldest example of humanity's interaction with metaspace and the hidden energies contained therein. From the first journey made by Dr. Crohn to the Devineau Expedition coreward, these devices have enabled humanity to grow and expand across the Milky Way.
Spike drives require the gravity well of a star or similarly massive object to provide a step-up or step-down transition point from metaspace. Ships must cross space in a series of "spike drills" from one star to another, and may not drill into empty regions of space or simply point at a distant star and engage the drive.
Spike Ratings
When the Terran Mandate standardized much of the disparate spike drive technologies in its early days, interstellar drives were categorized according to the metadimensional energy bands in which they operated. Some have drawn comparison to the energy orbitals observed in electrons orbiting atoms, but the comparison is, at best, a serviceable illustration to help neophytes understand the concept. In general, postech manufacturing techniques have been refined to develop spike drives up to Drive-3 rating, Drive-4 in the case of shipyards which preserved some pretech materials production or fabrication techniques.
Calculating Range and Travel Time
Spike drives have a range equal to their Drive rating, and a travel time of 6 days per hex, divided by Drive rating.
| Drive |
TL |
Max Range |
Travel Time per Hex |
| 1 |
4 |
1 hex |
6 days |
| 2 |
4 |
2 hexes |
3 days |
| 3 |
4 |
3 hexes |
2 days |
| 4 |
4+ |
4 hexes |
1.5 days |
| 5 |
5 |
5 hexes |
1.2 days |
| 6 |
5 |
6 hexes |
1 day |
Intra-System Travel
Travel between regions of a star system is accomplished by partially engaging the spike drive and riding the waves of metadimensional energy released. Base travel time within a region is six hours, and between regions 48 hours. This time is divided by the Drive rating.
| Drive |
Region |
Between Regions |
| 1 |
6 hours |
48 hours |
| 2 |
3 hours |
24 hours |
| 3 |
2 hours |
16 hours |
| 4 |
1.5 hours |
12 hours |
| 5 |
1.2 hours |
9.6 hours |
| 6 |
1 hour |
8 hours |
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