The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3438

Chapter 3438: Alien Warp Technology

In a span of several hours, Casella and Imon Ingvar's impression of the Red Ocean had completely changed.

Just like many other humans, the pair of siblings completely dismissed the threat of alien civilizations.

They thought that the indigenous alien races were weaker because the Big Two easily rolled them over and because they emerged from a smaller and weaker dwarf galaxy.

Perhaps this was true, but that didn't mean that the major alien races were pushovers!

There was one aspect about the phase whale race that had a profound influence on the alien civilizations of the Red Ocean.

The phase whales invented the most popular means of FTL travel in the dwarf galaxy. The warp drive as humanity has labeled it allowed them to travel to different star systems. After translating the biological tech into a mechanical form, the warp drive eventually spread and passed onto many of the other sentient alien races.

The Red Ocean warp drive was not the most powerful or effective means of FTL travel to the indigenous alien races, but it was the cheapest and least cumbersome way to get around.

Anytime a human encountered a native alien in the new frontier, there was a high chance the latter traversed the stars with the help of a warp drive.

[The Red Ocean warp drive achieves superluminar travel through different technological principles than the standard human FTl drive.] The AI tour guide explained to the Ingvars and many other museum visitors. [The warp drive is capable of compressing material space, allowing a ship to traverse a greater distance in the same time and at the same speed. Although humanity has independently developed technology that is able to achieve the same effect, it is not as efficient and effective as the Red Ocean version due to the absence of phasewater.]

"Warp… space?" Imon frowned.

"Have you forgotten your space travel lessons, already? Normal FTL drives work by dragging a starship into the higher dimensions where distances are apparently shorter. This alien warp drive tries to do something similar but by warping the existing dimensions that we all live in. Both try to achieve the same outcome through different means."

"Ah, I get it now. I think."

[The Red Ocean warp drive possesses several distinct advantages. The most notable is that it allows for fast and highly controllable intrasystem travel. It is not as vulnerable to gravitic interference as standard FTL drives, which means that a starship can traverse quickly to a planet with its help. Warp drives can also work in many different hazardous space regions where conventional FTL drives cannot function.]

"That's good to know. We can definitely use these new drives."

"They're probably expensive though. They're not only new, but they also need phasewater to function."

[That is correct. The performance of a warp drive is heavily dependent on its design, its underlying technology and the amount of phasewater incorporated in the system. The greater the amount of phasewater, the greater the degree of space warping. The most powerful warp drives can even allow multiple ships that do not necessarily possess their own warp drives to travel at superluminal speeds.]

"Can the warp drive be combined with an FTL drive?" Casella asked next.

[It is not recommended to do so without integrating the two technologies into a single cohesive system. Many human vessels have been lost after their operators performed reckless experiments with combining two separate drives.] The AI tour guide warned. [In principle, it is possible. The latest and most advanced public FTL drives models already add space warping capabilities to familiar human technology. This is the safest and most recommended method of taking advantage of warp technology.]

The theory was simple, really. Ignoring all of the advanced scientific principles and calculations, the new warp-enhanced FTL drive initially worked the same as the normal version.

When a starship transitioned into the higher dimensions, they traversed the same distance as normal, but space happened to be compressed. As long as the vessel got out of the higher dimensions, they found themselves a lot further ahead than if they just soared forward in the material realm.

It was like taking a shortcut.

A warp drive had the effect of compressing space, and apparently humanity managed to get this effect to work in the higher dimensions as well! By activating the warping function in this special state, a starship could reach its distant destination a lot faster!

This was the same as a person taking a shortcut, but instead of traversing it on foot, the individual also rode an aircar!

"Do you understand now, brother? Taking a shortcut and riding an aircar are two separate ways to get to a destination faster. Instead of choosing one over another, it's a lot more effective to apply both at the same time!"

Although this was a massive oversimplification of how all of this tech worked, the analogy was quite good.

"How effective is the warp drive?"

[At the same cost and conditions, the Red Ocean warp drive is 3 to 8 times slower than an FTL drive. The performance of a warp drive is largely dependent on the amount of phasewater it incorporates and how much space it needs to warp. In general, most alien starships are substantially slower than their human equivalent. However, the warp drive is more stable and can operate in more challenging conditions such as anomalous space regions and in areas close to planets. This also allows alien forces to evade attacks and pursuit from human vessels that do not possess the means to hinder enemy warp drives.]

[How can this be done?]

[There are many different methods to hinder nearby alien starships from activating their warp drives. The Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance has developed a range of products that are effective at different levels and different situations. It is recommended that each fleet carry at least one warp interdiction solution.]

This was definitely something that Casella would be paying attention to. She believed that General Verle should already be aware of this, but she would follow up on this issue just to be certain.

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