Stargates

''The revolving rings of the gate spun slowly as they approached, widening and narrowing as the ships ahead of them passed through, all monitored by the mass of control spires, offices and even living quarters that had been built onto them, like leeches on some great beast. 'Cleared for approach, Sundiver, have a good one'. The attractive female voice distracted Captain Fellis for a blissful moment, before the dread clamped down on his stomach again. He hated this gate above all other gates. He hated how it felt. Hated how it seemed to yawn open to receive his ship, how the sections of ring that swirled around one another always came so close to cleaving the Sundiver in two, or to crashing into one another, destabalising the wormhole and causing...something to happen. Fellis didn't know the science exactly, he had studied astrophysics, and knew enough to realise that each gate was different, each did the same thing a distinct way. He knew enough to know he hated this one most of all. The light of the singularity filled the bridge, he lowered the shutters and took a seat, ritualistically strapping himself down, whatever good that would do. ''

''Fellis closed his eyes and his grandmother came to mind, as she always did when he passed through Cozak Gate. He remembered the stories she used to tell him, about daring Commander Sohal, about the weird and wonderful lifeforms that existed all across the galaxy, and about the Psycheaters. He always remembered the Psycheaters at Cozak gate. Just a standard boogeyman story really, but she always told it so well it seemed more real than anything else she described. A race so twisted by technology and ambition they became monstrous, roaming the dark places of the galaxy, devouring the innocent and stealing their minds to power their abominable craft. Cozak felt like that to Fellis, like some vestige of a race that deserved to be forgotten. Other stargates were clean, secure, even fun. Aarto came to mind, its great ring hanging serenely in the void, warm glow welcoming tired merchants to Pillar. Cozak wasn't like that. The laws of the universe felt violated here. Unstable even. There was no clever negotiation with physics, no beneficial arrangement to give short-lived mortal races the chance to see the universe. No, Cozak was a punctured hole, a wound. Fellis opened his eyes. 'We've arrived sir'. His Ulossi officer was standing in front of him. Fellis rose quickly, taking control of himself and his ship. This was a new crew, moslty ex-military Ulossi. He couldn't show weakness, no matter how much he could feel Cozak behind him.''

By their very presence, stargates have created arteries of trade, power and conflict throughout the Rasalum nebula. Allowing unimaginable distances of space to be crossed instantaneously, stargates allow people of vastly disparate and distant origin to encounter one another. In some cases, as in Pillar, this has led to thriving galactic communities based on trade, exchange, and mutual security. In other regions, stargates have brought doom on entire civilisations, crackling to life and pouring out fleets of hostile ships upon unsuspecting races. Control of stargates and their use is therefore a hotly contested issue, especially given that the vast majority of species in the Rasalum nebula are merely inheritors of these great structures, and the science behind they're seemingly miraculous feat is a mystery to most of the races who use them.

Pillar, The Nexus
Although many areas of the Rasalum Nebula remain uncharted, and the wider galaxy beyond it is still a mystery, most discovered species in the Nebula agree that Pillar is the centre of the stargate network. With such a high density of stargates in a relatively small area, combined with the reach of those gates, Pillar is a natural meeting point for any species that unlocks the secrets of stargate travel. Why exactly Pillar contains so many stargates is a mystery, especially given that many of the stargates it does house are evidently of different origins and periods of civilisation.

Mechanics and Mysteries of the Gates
Despite their daily use in many sectors of the Rasalum Nebula, the Stargates, and often their abilities, are misunderstood or simply beyond the comprehension of many species. Nonetheless, what is widely known about the gates is as follows:

Each stargate is actually a set of twins, one linking to the other across a vast distance of space. All discovered stargates by the races of Pillar thus far follow this pattern, and each pair can only send matter to the other and vice versa, but seemingly never to a different gate.

Of the gates thus far discovered by the races of Pillar or the Observers, around 70% are unique, meaning that in form, appearance and even method of transport they can differ substantially. While all gates transport matter instantly, the way in which this achieved is little understood, but enough is known to observe that not all gates use the same technique. The Observers also note that most gates are clearly not from the same period of galactic civilisation, and show obvious differences in architecture, composition and appearance. For the 30% of the gates that are mostly uniform in appearance, composition and technology, the Observers date their construction to around 3000-4000 Before Peace. Whatever race did build them is unknown, but what is more important is that the science behind these particular gates is much better understood. Indeed, the races of Pillar have a good idea between them how to construct new gates, but the strategic advantage of keeping these projects secret, at least for the time being, is too great. Whether any new gates have been constructed and where is thus a matter of speculation.

Equally valid are concerns that not all gates have been disclosed to the public. Again, the importance of even one set of gates is so immeasurable that more likely than not many species in the galaxies have quietly uncovered more links in the wider Stargate Network, but have chosen to keep these gates top secret for whatever reason.

Some whisper that in the Glacarin Basin the Ulossi came across a gate leading far into unknown space, but quickly destroyed it once the initial observations reported back. Whether this is true or just another myth is uncertain, but the tale itself demonstrates how much about the gates may be being kept from public view.