User:Vivaporius/Sandbox/League of Civilized Worlds/III: Difference between revisions

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===Interstellar travel===
Interstellar travel throughout the League is frequent, though significantly more expensive than interplanetary travel atwithin thea singular star system level. This is mostly due to the various regulations that are in place to ensure the safety of the passengers, as well as the security of equipment and crewmen belonging to the voidlines themselves. Compared to the 500 to 2,500 credit fares one might expect towhen traveltraveling between two celestial bodies within athe same system, one can easily find themselves paying at minimum 1,500 credits to move across two or three star systems. Much of the cost of interstellar travel comes from the mandatory federal voidgate transit fee each passenger must pay to move between star systems. The tax is a flat 100 cr fee charged per person aboard any civilian vessel per gate crossedtransited during travel, though this only applies to gate pairings rather than each individual gate itself. For a passenger traveling from the League capital world of Tau Ceti f (Federal Center) to Sol III (Earth), they would need to cross a total of four gate pairings. This would amount to aan overall fee of 400 cr charged directly by the federal government during the booking phase of the trip. It goes without saying that the League federal government derives a great deal of revenue from interstellar travel within its space, and while there is significant pressure at the passenger-level to lower gate fees, there is little in the way of political will to do anything about this so long as the government stands to gain from the tax.
 
InterstellarWithin statistical parlance, interstellar travel itself is generally regarded as any tripvoyage involving passage across more than two voidgatesvoidgate inpairings oneaway from the voidship's point of directiondeparture. Anything less than this is considered "local transit", and is typically exempt from federal taxation on movement across the League to limit interference in the local economy. To minimize the risk of loss of life during interstellar travel, the federal government requires that smaller dropship vessels attach themselves to larger motherships that will provide life support and supplies for the crew and passengers of the smaller passenger vessels during long journeys. These larger vessels will have artificial gravity decks whichconsisting includeof an internal rotating sections capable of accommodating hundreds of passengers at once, as well as with strengthened hulls to protect against stellar radiation and micrometeorites. Consequently, maintenance for such vessels areis substantial, and fares involving the use of the facilities aboard the ship itself are steep. As such, prolonged voyages across the full extent of League space is generally regarded as the domain of the upper -middle class and wealthy elites of League society. However, as with all aspects of the economy, there exist much "cheaper" alternatives to such vessels, those which strip out many of the accommodations that would normally be found on a fully-equipped mothership. These vessels will usually have less capable oxygen recyclers (resulting in stale-tasting air and water), cramped bunk spaces, limited recreational facilities if any, and strict policies on what may and may not be brought aboard; all of this with the goal of costing costs as much as possible.
 
A voyage from the Mikaean homeworld of Family Pride to the Elysian homeworld of N/AFyllaren costs at minimum 900 cr in federal gate fees alone. On average, one can expect to spend at least 5,000 cr on a one-way trip to the Elysian homeworld, making travel in samesome instances prohibitively expensive for the average citizen. Because of these expenses, many private businesses and government agencies will subsidize travel across the League for some state employees and corporate executives, though this is typically limited to a certain number of systems depending upon the rank and status of the individual involved. For most citizens of the League, interstellar travel is not something one will doperform as frequently as interplanetary travel, and those who do travel between star systems frequently are either traders, government officials, businessmen, and soldiersmilitary personnel and minersindustrial workers transferring between posts within League space. OneThe one time someone will likely find themselves performing a major voyage across the League will typicallyusually be the result of a move from their homeworld to another star system, and from that point, it may be years before they travel the same distance again, usually if they are returning to their homeworld to visit their family.
 
*'''Percentage of population performing:'''