Jumpspace

Jumpspace is an extradimensional space parralel to Realspace that is utilized primarily for the purposes of travel at speeds faster than light. Jumpspace is an extremely difficult to study phenomena, or place, as aside from Dark Matter, no materials in Realspace can survive contact with Jumpspace for a long time, and only one, hydrogen, has been known to survive for more than a single second. Jumpspace is known however, to have divergent laws of physics, and it is in fact this trait that allows for material, and in some cases, messages to be transmitted across interstellar distances at a rate typically between seventy and one thousand twenty three times the speed of light. The exact dialation of timespace relative to Realspace is difficult to properly measure and is the preserve of advanced computing machines that are responsible for creating Astrogation charts.

Astrography

The most noteworthy trait of jumpspace that has been measured is the unique astrography which it exhibits. Though Jumpspace can reflect Realspace to a certain extent, and indeed Astrography, that is the cartography of charted space relies on this fact for navigation at Faster than Light Speeds, it has its own unqiue layout that is, at best, difficult to properly chart and has been the object of nearly two thousand years of study with plenty of mystery about its origins till remaining. What is known is that Jumpspace does possess currents, areas where the speed of Jump moves faster or slower; something which is utilized by experienced Spacers to travel with greater efficiency than those who are unfamiliar with Jumpspace, or with the astrography of a particular area. More rarely, these currents can be manipulated, with great effort via the Jump Gate network, though the industrial and technical resources necessary to build Jump Gates means that only a handful of entities can actually produce or even maintain them. These astrographic abnormalities are at their most extreme in the exceptionally rare wormholes that can sometimes be encountered, which have been observed to nearly instantly teleport objects that move through them great distances.
Overall, Jumpspace follows similar astral geography to Realspace, and major locations, such as planets, star systems, and even nebulae have reflections in Jumpspace, it is influence of the gravity created by these massive entities that is used to navigate through Jumpspace and use it as a means for travel. There are notable differences at times however, as sometimes in Jumpspace, certain objects project much greater influence than their mass would suggest, creating 'dead zones' where Jumping is nearly impossible and ships in Jumpspace are frequently pulled out. Most notable of these are large concentrations of Antimatter, which have been observed to have as much as a millionfold increase on their influence over, Jumpspace, resulting in even relatively small gas giants having the same Jumpshadow as a small star.

Jumpspace and Human Civilization

Jumpspace has become an incredibly important aspect of human civilization, and it is believed that it was incredibly important for Pardian civilization as well. The invention of the Baron-Palmer Drive by Susanne Palmer and Ellen Baron at the turn of the 23rd century was a key element in the early exploration and colonization of interstellar space, allowing humanity to expand beyond its home system and become a truly starfaring civilization. The Baron-Palmer Drive (later referred to as the Generation 1 Jump Drive) became the technological basis for nearly every human application of Jumpspace travel. The Baron-Palmer type Jump Drive operates by tearing open a hole into Jumpspace, and moving an object (usually a ship) into it, as it does so, the Jump Drive expels a cloud of Liquid Hydrogen that the creates a bubble, shielding the object from damage within Jumpspace. Without that protection, an object will be destroyed utterly by the forces of entropy in Jumpspace which seemingly operate at a much higher rate than those of Realspace. Aside from the gradual expansion of Jump-Drive range, and minor tweaks, the fundamental basis of the drive has not changed significantly. The only exceptions to this are the relatively rare Dark Matter fueled Liu Drive, which is largely the province of certain military and scientific arms.
An extension of Jump Drive technology exists in the form of Jump Gates, which are an attempt to dramatically increase the efficacy of the Jump Drive. These devices, taking the shape of arrays of interstellar objects spanning a predetermined path, alter the flow of Jumpspace and in effect create pathways through it that are extremely stable, significantly faster, and significantly safer than those of 'wild jumpspace'; to the point that a week's travel time can be cut down to a day or less when using a Jump Gate, and safe enough that Jump Gate lanes were some of the only accessible routes through Jump Space that could be safely traveled by most ships in the immediate aftermath of the Great Cataclysm. The massive infrastructural, and industrial requirements of these devices however, has meant that in the wake of the Stellar League's collapse, few can actually build and maintain the infrastructure necessary for an extensive Jump Gate network, and fewer are willing to pay the significant economic cost even if technically capable.
The last major human development of Jumpspace technology comes in the form of the Ansible, an advanced communication device that can send messages faster than light through Jumpspace. These devices effectively create Jump Bubbles for data and information in the same way that a Jump Drive would do for ships, and project that information through Jump to a destination. These ansibles, in effect create nearly instantaneous faster than light communication, and provide an enormous benefit to the organizations that have them. however, the installations required for human use of ansibles are extensive, frequently requiring the hollowing out of entire planetoids, and require the expenditure of thousands of tons of hydrogen fuel to send single messages meaning that their construction is prohibitively difficult for most, and only a few are known to be operational at this time.

Jumpspace Anomalies

A frequent, and worrying phenomena of Jumpspace are the Jumpspace Anomalies. Often, but not always the result of bad jumps. Jumpspace anomalies are sometimes believed to come in ebbs and flows, in Jumpspace currents with varying frequency. The most notable Jumpspace anomaly is the Great Cataclysm which was wrought upon the galaxy after the end of the Jred Scourge.

The Things that Live in Jumpspace

Though the factual basis of the notion that there is life in Jumpspace, is suspect, most veteran spacers swear by the existence of living things in Jumpspace. The Things that Live in Jumpspace are believed to be extremely dangerous, on a physical, psychological, or rarely, metaphysical level. Studies into this phenomena are ongoing, however, despite the fact that a few major academic institutions putting serious efforts into studying the possibility of Jumpspace things, thus far it is broadly the academic consensus that these entities are considered to be only a myth, rather than a fact.