[Getter Robo G]

Hey guys,

  I need to know basicly how long travel time is through the various nodes... Is it an average rate or do diff nodes take longer than others to traverse?

Also the GTVA  is about to get their hands on FTL travel without the need for nodes. So looking at the node map Beta Aquile and Sirius look damn close to SOL. IF they could go minimum of Speed of light in real space, how long would it take to get to SOL from one of those two systems? (considering Alpha Centauri is 4ly away and slighly farther then the two forementioned systems.)

I need to know cause of my fic (if you've been following it). Will Galactica's Lightspeed (assuming it only is rated at warp1 [1C] max) drive enable them to reach Earth in a resonable time or merely be used in battles to quickly reposition fleets for hit and run attacks or for quick engagement or retreats...

Any help with this would be appreciated!

[Fenrir]

Well, if you're only going at light speed, it would take you four years to go from Sol to Alpha Centauri, and that's leaving out time dilation effects (unless this nodless FTL travel still involves Subspace or some other sort of alternate plane where relitivistic effects don't seem to apply). With this in mind, it's not a stretch to reason that you either go a good deal faster than lightspeed in Subspace, or distance in Subspace is drastically shorter than taking the trip the long way through the real universe. Or a combination of both.

If I recall the final FS1 mission correctly, the trip through Subspace from Delta Serpentis to Sol was only 8 minutes or so, while even going at light speed would make this trip a matter of years or decades intead of minutes.

[Getter Robo G]

I know the node map is not a realistic map as it is 2d and not 3d but going on the asumption since Sirius and BA look closer to SOL than AC that using nodes to get to one of them and then starting a jump to SOL with the new engines might take 1-3 years...

That is if GTVA sends one of these new and expensive ships to Earth...


Regardless, once they get the language barriers down more (They don't speak English), GTVA will get lightspeed and a look at the tylium and solium missiles (maybe even the lasers might be more efficent?). In return the Colonials will get access to Beam weaponry, and a better C&C operating system and computer upgrades, oh and access to jump nodes.

Commander Cain will help GTVA devise some strategies incorperating their new mutual capabilities should those "Galmongering Shivans" poke their heads in anytime soon.  

[Fenrir]

I don't think either of those systems are closer to Sol at all. I'd try watching FS2's command briefing ani's so you can see the nodemaps in 3D. That oughta give us a better clue as to where they are.

[watsisname]

If you need node travel times, I could figure some out for you pretty easily ON THE ASSUMPTION that the time it takes to travel between two nodes is directly proportional to the real-space distance bewteen them.  

I got a nifty program that simulates the universe in 3D, and I can easily find out the distances between any two stars in our galaxy.  (Well, some stars.  Currently the number of stars displayed is a little less than 1 million.)  

For example, if we know that it took ~8 minutes to travel from Delta Serpentis to Sol, and Delta Serpentis is (in RL) 210 light years from Sol, then if subspace "speed" is constant, then it takes 1 minute to travel 26.5 light years.  For something like Capella-Vega, which are 50 light years apart, that takes a little less than two minutes to travel between.

So what systems will you need travel times for?

[Spicious]

Since both Sirius and Beta Aquilae are real stars, one can easily compare their distances from Sol. Beta Aquilae is not a particularly good choice for a starting point at 44.7 light years from Earth. Sirius is a better choice at 8.57 light years, but is still further away than Alpha Centauri. The node maps are not to scale, but are arranged as they are for better organisation.

For intersystem travel, I'd suggest somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes depending on plot devices.

[TrashMan]

I would agree..from 8 to 20 minutes, perhaps even moe for really far away systems.

intersystem jumps are short, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute on average..

[Mefustae]

Originally posted by TrashMan
intersystem jumps are short, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute on average..

I'm sure you mean Intrasystem sub-space jumps.

[Getter Robo G]

That's cool... Thanks for the info.  IF they go for it, looks like Alpha Centauri is the likely candidate... NOw I have to determine is Galactica's engines only go 1C or if it is greater. (a 4 year trip would suck but is still manageable)...

[Ferret]

So how did the Knossos device work then? From what I remember that just stabalised a near-collapsing node, yet the node flung you half way across the galaxy.

[Getter Robo G]

The Knossis did not involve travel itself, only the original Node does. You are correct that it merely was a device used for long term node stabilization.

   Why the ancients would make such a device, perhaps it was to maintain routes over a large empire. While they had to wait decades or centuries for a node to stabilize, at least a trade route, vital system, or merely picket colony would not be lost.

Sorry if there was some confusion as in my fic there are no KNOWN Knosis devices remaining excpt for the one under study that the Trinity found and it was towed to Delta Serpentis (for the Earth node stabilization project).

[Ferret]

Nah what I'm saying is surely it would have taken bloody forever to reach that nebula through your calculations.

Nebulas are massive and very, very far away. Plot hooooooole!

[Getter Robo G]

Excuse me, who said anything about a nebula?.. I'm getting a little lost here. Can you be more specific?

[FireCrack]

i am alos lost, how is jumping to the nebula a plot hole? It says you travveled further than any terran ever in the breifing...

[Ferret]

You're all talking about how long it takes to travel between nodes as been set depending on how far away the nodes are, but if this is true then it takes aaaaaaages to travel to the nebula in FS2, which it probably doesn't really.
So what I'm saying is maybe subspace travel is different and it really takes a set time between nodes and there really isn't any longer distance to travel.

[Getter Robo G]

I started this thread to get clarification for my fic (if any of you have been following it).

  The Pegasus was in Capaella (my mistake I forgot what I was typing today) when Cain took on the two Base Stars head on while Baltar's Base Ship retreated. When the two base ships exploded Cain had already ordered a blind micro jump for a quick calculation to get out of range of the blasts.

  Due to what's been going on, the dimensional boundaries had been weakened and so it was no surprise that the Pegasus jumped at the same place in their universe that was also an unstable node in FS2's Capella system so that's how they ended up in FS2. They DID come from Capella, just not the Capella that went Nova. GTVA hasn't figured that out (yet).. they are still dealing with the language barriers and techincal differences of this unknown and badly damaged vessel.

  In a nutshell Pegasus is now trapped in the FS2 universe with no way back (unless they find a way to recreate those conditions at that exact area, but they can't for now

[StratComm]

Crossovers make my head hurt.  So I'm not even going there.

On a somewhat related note, we have absolutely no canonical evidence on how much variance there is between node travel times whatsoever.  The 10 minute hop from Delta Serpentis to Earth was entirely a plot device; it becomes entirely up to the mission designer how long it takes to traverse a node simply because the only time it ever matters is when you're making a mission inside them.  Taking King's Gambit or Apocalypse as an argument, one could assume that travel time was nearly instantaneous; the only time we even see a delay is in the final mission of FS1 and that was done very much for plot reasons alone.

[Ferret]

Freespace was hardly ever a hardcore sci-fi series, it's an arcade space sim at heart, and that's why we love it.

[Getter Robo G]

True, but at least I am trying to be as faithful as possible to the franchise now that the Freespace arc is involved... Though it is a minor arc for now it still may have repricussions later on, so it's good to have these kind of little details ironed out from the beginning.

Last thing I want is have people going ape**** about times that way some people do about turbolser and photon torpedo yields, blah blah, ect...

Yeah it's my take (hence fanfiction) but if there's any wank going to happen it will come from established numbers and not from to much favoritism. (there is only one story arc beyond numbers cause none were ever established).