Warp Gate
Warp Gates are points located in real space connected to another such region by way of a tunnel that travels through the Warp.[1] They were constructed by ancient Humanity during the Dark Age of Technology and their workings are not understood by the Imperium.[7]
Contents
Overview
These tunnels are known to be able to avoid the disturbances of warp space thus allowing a journey to be made both safely and within a fixed time. A great mystery surrounds these gates as there is speculation regarding whether they are natural a phenomenon or artificially created. If the latter, a further mystery concerns who were the creators of warp gates and what was their intended purpose. Some gates are known to be artificially enhanced as they contain mechanical constructions that delineate their entrances, though their exact function could only be guessed at. Their one disadvantage is the fact that their destination is pre-determined, which permits travel only within the fixed lane. Some warp gates are little more than black holes in space.[1]
It is known that warp gates come in various different sizes and can occur either in the depths of space outside the boundaries of the solar system, within such systems or even on planets. Among the largest of these phenomena allow the passage of starships with these versions being situated either on the edge of a solar system or amongst its outer planets.[1] These gateways could span over a hundred[3a] or even thousands of kilometers across, and allowed starships to safely enter the warp under plasma-drive propulsion.[8] Other such gates are only large enough to allow the passage of small vehicles or even human sized creatures through them. Such versions are typically found on planetary surfaces and can lead to another gate located on another world where they respond only to an electrical, psychic or other form of signal. This has led some to believe that a level of secrecy was intended in their function on the part of the builders of such gates. Regardless of type, all forms of warp gates are rare with the smaller types being even rarer.[1]
Every spacefaring species is willing to use warp gates whenever they are encountered, though the location they lead to can be hazardous. This is because many gates appear to be defective, dumping space vessels to random regions of warp space. Others instead take their travellers to areas that were once planets or stars but are now empty tracts of space. There is also the possibility that a gate can lead to a distant xenos star empire. It is even conceivable that some craft might disappear into the Warp and end up being transported beyond the galaxy itself.[1]
Known Gates
- Khthonic Gate and Elysian Gate: Both located within the Sol System.[7]
- Warp Gate 492 : located in the vicinity of Cluster FR/7891 but declared unusable to the Imperium which saw it being marked as such on the charts whereupon it was discovered by Orks.[2]
- Jericho Gate: discovered by the Spear of Tarsus;[5b] joins the lost Imperial sector of Jericho Reach in the Segmentum Ultima to the turbulent warp-storm wracked Segmentum Obscurus that divides the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse.[3b][3a]
- Kalium Gate: Rediscovered during the Great Crusade and destroyed by traitor forces at the time of the Horus Heresy.[4]
- The Porta Septentum System contains a Warp Gate between the orbits of its second and third planets.[6]
See also
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, pg. 131
- 2: Children of the Emperor (Short Story)
- 3: Deathwatch Core Rulebook:
- 4: The Path of Heaven (Novel), Chapters 2–5
- 5: Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault:
- 6: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Video Game) - Act 2
- 7: The Solar War (Novel), Chapter 2
- 8: Ashes of the Imperium (Novel), Chapter 12
