Difference between Wings of Light and Beyond Mimas Gate

Wings of Light takes place in 22nd century Sol. Humanity has no radically different technologies to what we have now. No paradigm shifts. Ships are either elegant, spidery affairs of carbon-reinforced tubing and shadowshields, or great armoured ships normally hundreds of meters long, if not kilometers. The sheer scale of such vessels allows human crews to get by in a more traditional manner. Efficient fusion allows these great vessels to maintain a steady pace.

Galaxies apart, in the rift, things are very different. Background radiation is quite a lot higher, there are no ripstars to catalyse fusion, and the situation favours a few kilometer flagships, a handful of several-hundred-meter-long cruisers, and most of fleets composed of frigates only dozens of meters long. There are even mecha, only ten or so meters long, designed for surface assaults on the largest ships. Without the clear visibility of Sol, and with light-years to cover, small ships were the only option. Normal human crews would not be able to survive the high radiation levels.

I'll introduce my solution to this next post.