FTL

FTL, known as Faster Than Light, is a term which describes travel at speeds faster than the speed of light.

History
Faster than light travel was only science fiction until Aperture began pioneering research into the field. Pumping billions into FTL research every year, it was not long before some tests yielded results. Aperture began Project Spark in 2034, and went quiet for 8 years until its completion. In 2042, Aperture resurfaced with the Phoenix-I, the first FTL vehicle from humanity, which was equipped with a slip space FTL drive.

Modern FTL
Currently, there are four types of FTL which are listed below.

Slip-Space MK1 [2042-2112]
Slip-Space was the first technology to transport humans to the stars. Unfortunately, it was barely suitable as it was extremely dangerous and quite slow, relatively speaking. Due to the unstable and unsafe nature of the drives, many ships disentegrated in mid flight, causing many casualties. The most notable event was perhaps the destruction of the ASV Kraeston.

Mass Effect MK2 [2112-2788]
Mass Effect was a massive leap forward in FTL technology and it was certainly needed. This technology was much safer and faster than its predecessor, but did require the use of Mass Relays, which were devices uses to activate the Mass Effect cores. To this day, Mass Effect technology is sometimes used for civilian purposes.

Warp Drive MK3 [2788-3902]
The Warp Drive was a defining invention, as it was much faster than Mass Effect and it did not require the use of relays.

Shock Space MK4 [3902-4009]
Shock Space is the most recent FTL advancement, allowing for extremely fast and accurate travel. Due to the rushed nature of the technology, there were several large scale accidents involving resonance shattering of some spacecraft during Shock space travel, but there were no casualties.

Ion Pulse Drive MK5 [4009-Present]
The Ion Pulse Drive was first announced by Aperture during a public broadcast event in 4001. After 8 years of testing, the first ship equiped with this new technology, the ASV Belfast, was unveiled to the public. The ship was capable of speeds much greater than that of traditional MK4 craft, as it combined elements of this previous technology with aspects of MK3 and MK2. The ASV Belfast is currently [4009] the only ship in operation using the MK5 technology. There is an unveiling set for second quarter 4010 which will show a new set of fleets, operating under code-name 'Mjolnir Fleet Alpha'.