The Tower of Babel - jeremygillespie/empire GitHub Wiki

The Warpgates are devices that allow for apparent faster-than-light travel. Here's the catch: firing a Warpgate requires a truly staggering expenditure of energy, and they must be fired at both the origin and the destination at a precise time. The time is calculated based on the relative position and velocity of the two Warpgates. However, since no faster-than-light communication is possible (other than via Warpgate), the origin and destination must know in advance when they will fire, and they must have access to all the energy they need.

There are seven Warpgates throughout the galaxy, with more under construction. Every few years, a Warpgate will fire, swapping its cargo with the central hub, Sol. This is the only means by which society is interconnected. Without the Warpgates, light-speed communication between the eight star systems would take thousands of years. The galactic economy relies heavily on resources imported and exported via Warpgate.

The Sol star system does not produce enough energy to fire all of its Warpgates. A complete Dyson sphere covers the sun, but it only provides a small percentage of the energy used by the hub. The majority of a Warpgate firing is powered by antimatter fuel sent via Warpgate from the other stars. However, recent economic downturns have resulted in less fuel coming in than needed. Recent estimates of Sol's fuel reserves indicate that the safety margin has dipped below 100%, meaning that if a single Warpgate were to fail, there would not be enough fuel left to fire any subsequent Warpgates. The galactic economy would collapse.

Desperate for more fuel, Sol has begun sending military forces to the other stars, to increase production by any means necessary.