Solar Rails, Premier Space Travel

The Starship Killers

Solar Rails function as train stations in orbit around certain worlds or in the center of a given star cluster. Impossibly huge and complex machines capable of supporting entire cities for trade, commerce, and transportation. But what exactly are Solar Rails and how did they almost render the Starship obsolete?

Utility

Solar Rails are widely used in favor of Starships because of three key reasons;

1. They are faster;
2. They are safer;
3. They are far more efficient;

The 0-Point Energy Slingshot Solar Rails use makes them far faster than any old Foldspace Engine. Additionally, they have a lower mortality rate with a number of safeguards set in place during travel in the event of an error. And finally, they are better at transportation. Slingshots are slower than FTL travel but get pretty damn close to those speeds.

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Solar Rails are usually placed at a key location in a star system / Realm or directly in the orbit of a planet / World. They function as translations with hundreds of Rails coming and going out at any moment. People and their belongings are unloaded and they then head to one of the many drydocks so a starship can get them down to the surface to wherever they need to be.

Access & Availability

By the time the Unmei Period began, Solar Rails were in full effect across the cosmos. Realms and Worlds deemed Modern or Advanced all possess Solar Rails, which accounts for most of the Inner Ring.

Discovery

Solar Rails were originally pioneered by the engineer and mathematician Pauline Gérard who developed the Slingshot, a type of concentrated 0-Point Energy beam that was far faster than traditional Starship Foldspace Engines. Gérard's Office perfected her formula and developed vessels that could travel along these beams at amazing speeds. And thus the Solar Rail was born, and the Gérards made more Hosar than they knew what to do with.