Star system

Star Systems, or shortly termed "systems", are vast regions of space, supported by very large celestial objects known as stars. Occasionally, star systems hold one or more planets, supported by the intense gravitational pull of the system's star.

Prior to the development of Subspace travel, space-faring species such as the Terrans and Vasudans were only bound to within their respective star systems; the Terrans were bound to Sol, and the Vasudans, to Vasuda. The birthplace of the Shivans is unknown; whether they even originated from a star system is open to wide debate. A mysterious, ancient race, termed only as the "Ancients", allegedly originated in a star system "close to Vasuda".

With the deployment of Subspace travel, various races were able to journey to other systems, places which have never been reached before. Without subspace, it would be nearly impossible to travel to other systems, as such distances are measured in several lightyears. The Terrans, Vasudans, and Ancients exploited multiple star systems, colonizing and governing them. Some systems had planets, which contained valuable resources, such as food and minerals, as well as shelter by constructing cities and villages; systems may also be used as a base of military operations where a military installation could be constructed. This made most star systems extremely valuable; some, however, have less use, such as Gamma Draconis, with no usable planets or moons.

A star system usually has at least one point wherein intersystem subspace travel is possible, known as jump nodes. Jump nodes are highlighted in green in a ship's HUD. It is unknown as to how the Terrans or Vasudans discovered jump nodes.

Star systems also allow intrasystem subspace travel, wherein any ship equipped with subspace drives can jump to one point of the system to another in the presence of the nearby star's gravitational pull.

At one point during the Second Shivan Incursion, a notable star system, Capella, was utterly destroyed when its star went supernova resulting from mysterious Subspace tearing weaponry on the SJ Sathanas Juggernauts; exactly why the Shivans did this is unknown, but the capability to destroy entire stars has shocked both Terrans and Vasudans.

Though the Nebula System does not have any stars, it is still termed as a "system".