The distances between human settlements in the cluster are immense, star systems with many colonies on their planetary bodies or their gravity wells depend on one another. Transit between these settlements must first surmount the often most difficult step, achieving orbital velocities. space elevators that stand out as the premier method. They provide exceptional mass transfer capabilities and speed. Core worlds with ample resources have established these structures, while frontier colonies are being planned with space elevators in mind. For locations where space elevators aren't practical, alternative methods such as rotavators, chemical rockets, and space planes are used.
Verne guns are effective for non-delicate cargo but are impractical for human transport due to the extreme g-forces involved. On planets with no atmosphere, fusion drives from ASVs are employed, but using them in atmospheric conditions is highly dangerous, risking destruction from the super heated drive plume, saturating the surrounding area with radiation and damaging the drives which have been designed for the vacuum of space. Additionally, launch pads subject to a Fusion Drive plume, unless carefully hardened, are likely to turn into slag, incurring significant cost in their repair and maintenance. For Armournauts, who need to transport themselves and their equipment to orbit, the available methods are crucial. Without orbital infrastructure, planets are known as maroon worlds, where even an SOS is unlikely to result in rescue due to the logistical challenges.
For intra-system travel, fusion drives are the primary method of propulsion, with catapults and Aldrin cyclers providing additional support for AFV to enhance transit capabilities within the system. Interstellar travel is restricted to corridor space, a unique and mysterious network of contorted space-time believed to be created by ancient alien megastructures known as the pillars.
Mass transit and shipping within the cluster rely on a sophisticated network of Cycler stations. These stations typically orbit around the star and pass by all major planetary bodies at various points. Once their orbit is established, Cycler stations no longer need to burn fuel and can be maintained using spin gravity. This design allows them to carry extensive radiation shielding and provides greater comfort in space. These massive hubs serve as centers for commerce, storage, administration, and communication. Corridor Cyclers, complete a circuit through corridor space, slingshotting themselves through multiple star systems before reaching their apogee and reversing direction. All forms of cycler stations are managed by fleets of tugs, carriers, mining vessels, and shuttles, and are often bustling with Armornauts.
Travel across the cluster involves immense distances, and no instantaneous method for travel exists. The cluster is divided into major regions: the superpower territories, the Core, the Jambles, and the Frontier. Transit times between regions can vary significantly depending on orbital infrastructure, speed, and the corridor network. For instance, traveling from one side of the Core to the other directly can take months or years, while crossing from one region to another might take up to a decade. Optimizing travel by factoring in orbital mechanics and the best corridor routes can significantly shorten these times, but failing to do so may extend a journey from weeks, months or years. To manage these long-haul trips, Jaunt Beds are used. These beds induce a state of hibernation, slowing the aging process, although not entirely halting it. Prolonged use of Jaunt Beds can lead to various health issues, but for travelers, a ten-year trip can feel like just a nap away. Current medical guidelines suggest that no human should hibernate in a jaunt bed for cumulatively more than 50 years, doing so is often functionally the same as dying. Physically fit and healthy adults may cumulatively go up to 15 years in a jaunt bed though this will likely require significant screening before hand and recovery after. About 4% of people that enter into jaunt bed hibernation for any amount of time experience waking sickness where they experience brain death while withdrawing from jaunt bed usage.
Sub-light travel between systems without using the corridors, though exceedingly rare, has occurred successfully, if only by a handful of times with specialized jaunt bed equiped sleeper ships. There are a number of systems with no known corridor routes or ones that have become inactive or dangerous. Travelers from one such system started their journey likely sometime in the late interregnum or early scission period. Hundreds of colony ships from 2 distinct rival cultures from one of these systems spread from it arriving across the jambles region shortly after the activation of the 4th pillar. The Fernweh Nation sought to secede and escape the control of the Great Hiraethan Palatinate, both unaware of the wider cluster found themselves rendered impotent observing an already long colonized cluster and their militaries outclassed technologically by even the smallest of pirate groups. These scouting and colonial groups quickly dissolved, having sustained high levels of attrition from their long jaunt journeys. The Fernweh pushed on to the newly discovered frontier whilst the Hiraeth sought to return to the palantanate even if it meant centuries more journey. While their home system, still presumably unaware of the wider cluster, will likely provide streams of sleeper ships arriving for many centuries to come.