Cosmic Storms

Cosmic storms (also called space storms) are a type of disruptive natural phenomena that exist across the galaxy. Cosmic storms exist partially in realspace, but also partially in subspace. Large disruptions in subspace can coalesce, creating effects in realspace centred around stars hundreds of lightyears apart. These disruptions can move in subspace, changing which stars are affected in realspace, making it appear as though a storm is physically "moving" in realspace. Although they tend to move with subspace tides, storms have been known to move against them on occasion.

A number of storm categories have been identified, based on their effects: electric, gravity, magnetic, particle, radiant, shroud, stardust, and nexus. Regardless of their type, they have proven to have devastating consequences - especially on unprepared ships and colonies. At the dawn of faster-than-light travel, cosmic storms were extremely dangerous to all but the most developed of systems. In the mid 24th century CE, however, advances in preparation, planetary shielding, ship protection, emergency management, and prediction methods have significantly reduced their threat to spacefaring societies. Important colonies or starbases are now often equipped with large storm repelling facilities, which manipulate subspace to effectively force storms away from them.

The Yatunan Radicals are generally considered to be the masters of cosmic storms, having developed technology to control and benefit from them. The Yatunans were the first to develop storm prediction technology, sustainment fields, and were also the first to create an artificial cosmic storm by manipulating subspace. Their reserach has also shown that cosmic storms can even create rifts into subspace, capable of "pulling" objects thousands of lightyears across the galaxy. In the largest case, an ancient habitat complex was discovered within Yatunan space after a particularly strong storm.

Types

Electric Storms

Electric storms are characterised by rampant electromagnetic fields, creating random electrical charges that can impact shield generators. While ship hulls are strong enough to remain unaffected by the electrical storm - and can even benefit from their power generation - collisions become significantly more dangerous without a protective barrier. On planets, however, electric storms can create powerful planetary weather systems that cause significant damage in atmospheres. Unlike in space, the supercharged lightning strikes of these storms have the potential to destroy buildings and civilian starships. Like in space, planets can utilise the intense electric fields to generate vastly more power than they otherwise could.

Gravity Storms

Gravity storms are among the strangest of the cosmic storms. They are created when gravitational ripples (usually caused by the collision of large bodies like stars and black holes) collapse in proximity of subspace anomalies. Gravity storms create extremely localised gravitational fields, capable of strengthening or lessening (in some cases, even inverting) natural or artificial gravity. These fields can impede starship navigation, though the onboard artificial gravity systems of ships and habitats are generally capable of compensating to protect crew and passengers. On planets, gravitational anomalies can present significant hazards for buildings and individuals, though many enjoy being able to nearly fly in low gravity. Particularly intense storms have been recorded as pulverising large sections of terrain, and in one case, creating a permanent gravitational anomaly that caused a mountain to begin (and remain) floating in the sky.

Magnetic Storms

Somewhat similar in nature to electric storms, magnetic storms are created by interactions between gravitational fields, magnetic asteroid belts, and subspace anomalies. Although they produce electromagnetic fields in a similar manner to electric storms, they do not charge space or atmospheres with electricity. Instead, these storms have a stronger effect on magnetic objects, such as ferrous metals and planetary magnetic fields. Metallic objects that have not been degaussed are at risk due to these magnetic fields, damaging ships and buildings alike. However, some particularly brave miners and metallurgists have developed methods of utilising the anomalies created by magnetic storms to extract and refine metals with significantly higher efficiency.

Particle Storms

Particle storms are comprised of significant amounts of small particulates moving at extremely high speeds. They are particularly dangerous, capable of damaging starships. While the destruction of unprotected starships directly due to particle storms is rare, hull damage and buildup of debris on a ship can compound existing issues. Particle storms also hamper spaceborne maintenance efforts, as venturing outside during such a storm carries significant risk. While most of the debris is burned up by a planet's atmosphere, some of the particulate does manage to get through. It can cause issues with vehicles and synthetics, jamming motors and creating more maintenance work.

Radiant Storms

Radiant storms, sometimes called solar storms or radiation storms, emit heavy radiation. Stars inside these storms exhibit more active behaviour, particularly with solar flares. Despite the heavy radiation in space, ships, stations, and habitats are well-insulated from it, and are mostly unaffected - though ships landing in atmospheres may require decontamination procedures. However, the intense radiation makes cloaking virtually impossible. Cloaking fields create empty spaces in the radiation, allowing even basic sensors to detect an extremely obvious void where the cloaking field is. Radiation levels within atmospheres are usually tolerable to populations living there, but some regions may experience high enough levels to neccesitate lockdown procedures.

Stardust Storms

Stardust storms, sometimes called celestial storms, are somewhat similar to particle storms. They are comprised of small granules of stellar dust, though much finer than the damaging particle storms. Due to this, the dust is relatively harmless to both ships and individuals. The danger posed by this kind of storm is instead to sensors and tracking systems - stardust storms play havoc with them, causing them to operate intermittently or even cease functioning entirely. This prevents system traffic control from effectively monitoring shipping lanes and hyperspace entries, potentially allowing unauthorised access and transit by pirates, criminals, or hostile states. Crime is noted to rise in regions affected by stardust storms, as even planetary sensors are impacted by the dust that makes it through the atmosphere. In addition, stellar dust is harmful to food production, damaging crop fields wherever it lands in concentration.

Shroud Storms

Shroud storms are a rare type of cosmic storm that swirl with psionic energy. Psionic experts within the Kingdom of Yondarim believe that shroud storms are directly caused by beings within the Shroud, doing so for unknown and unimaginable regions. Regardless of their cause, shroud storms have drastic effects on organics. Their psionic energy interacts with any kind of organic mind, even those that are not psionically attuned, causing them to occasionally see visions and what Yondar scientists refer to as 'spirits', believed to be Shroud entities. Needless to say, this has a poor effect on organic mental health within affected regions. Psionically-gifted individuals, such as the Yondar, are capable of a kind of synergy with shroud storms, utilising the powerful psionic energy to boost their own abilities.

Nexus Storms

Nexus storms are the rarest, and by far most dangerous type of cosmic storm. They are created when multiple kinds of storm merge, or the conditions for multiple occur simultaneously in proximity to each other. Nexus storms are significantly more dangerous than any other kind of storm, exhibiting the properties of multiple at the same time. As such, all but the most essential space traffic is suspended, and planetary or habitat-based populations are put into emergency lockdowns for the duration of these storms. The first recorded nexus storm was not natural - it was created by the Yatunan Radicals in 2316 CE as part of an attempt to summon the largest storm imaginable - which they did. It caused severe damage to multiple systems, and even more severe damage to Yatunan diplomatic relations with the rest of the galaxy.

Type

Natural