Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Chrono Technology

"Time travel? Chronotechnology? What is this, a joke?"

-AlterTech Scientist, seeing Einstein's theory for the first time.

Albert Einstein's heritage
The Alliance Of Hawke is a science-driven faction. Global video communication, GPS satellite systems, Solar Cells, Particle Colliders, and many other wonders of the universe serve the Alliance army and the Alliance citizens. One of the earliest, and likely one of the most well-known technology aspects, is simply called Chronotechnology.

The Chronotechnology was initially an idea thought out by an Aselian physics scientist called Albert Einstein, who mysteriously disappeared after a speech at the Solway International Physics Conference, Brussels, in the year 1927. He postulated his theories of our universe being actually a multiverse, and after earning a bit of laughter from other physics scientists, he did show off a formula that earned him silence and awe. Only 1 other scientist, from a technology firm called AlterTech, spoke out the quote above, with Einstein replying: '"Sir, believe me, time will show. Sooner or later, time will show." Einstein went on, and earned more and more interest in his theories.

One of his theories, time travel, and its application, was of particular interest. However, Einstein paused his speech to take a break. In that break, he disappeared and was never seen again. Conspiracy theorists believe, his own theory of time travel lead to his doom, because Marsianian time travelers went back in time to kill him so the human population will never understand the workings of the universe. Conservative officials dismissed these theories as utter rubbish, but the true reason for his disappearance was never solved.

However, of high value was his inheritance, among others, the Chronotechnology idea. Bending the space-time continuum would allow travel from one point in the universe to another in an instant if enough energy is available. With a workaround based on the multiverse theory, but not strictly using it, a new generation of scientists managed to create a device which they, in honor of the original idea, called the Chronosphere.

The Chronosphere of the first generation was an orb, connected with the building, which could be used to "teleport" material from one place in a room to another, but the device required so much energy (the equal term being the energy output of the complete city of Fereldan), funding was cut despite the team making a larger, effective version. Disappointed by the inability of officials to see the potential, they almost gave up completely, until a technology firm, going by the name of FutureTech, came across the project and offered funding in exchange for firm loyalty. The scientists agreed instantly.

AseliaTech, which once had the name AlterTech, changed its management and began serving and supplying the newly created Alliance with technology. They were highly interested in the development of chronotechnology, having realized its potential. Within a few years, a new prototype the size of a building was created and ready for testing.

Technical Aspects
The Chronosphere is, so to say, the most brutal use of Chronotechnology. It rips open a path in the space-time continuum at two defined points in space and transfers any material, energy, and everything else from the first point to the other. The actual physics behind this would take books to explain in detail, however, aspects of the superstring and multiverse theories play important roles in using the Chronosphere in an acceptable (and safe) way. Thousands of modern computer devices are needed to calculate each possibility, and a network of transfer methods exists just for the purpose of sending data and electrical energy to a Chronosphere. A much smaller scale using the same principle is the Chrono-Exchange, which does what it says - exchange the position of 2 objects.

Yet, meddling with the causality is a dangerous play, and several Alliance Scientists regularly get headaches when the use of a Chronosphere brings unexpected side effects. After the GVAW, the then-new generation of Chronospheres was finally useable, and bringing units from one place to another through the way of time was possible - but not without side effects. The device had a flaw and sometimes showed weird behavior, which ranged from malfunctions and overloads to sometimes really nasty results.

One such malfunction happened in the test phase of the new device and trapped an entire tank platoon in time - they came back 10 seconds later, at least for us, because for them more than 2 months passed, and only a third of the personnel made it back. Another flaw in the older generation that has thankfully been fixed was the so-called "Chronovortex". This flaw produced at a given percentage of certainty a storm loaded with Chrono-energy - a destructive anomaly, but thankfully only shortlived.

Such a storm destroyed a civilian village near the border of the Voshkod, who in return attacked the Allied outpost they thought responsible. There also have been alarming archeological findings - in the desert of Hyboria a team found parts of a Guardian Tank, but seeing how the tank parts are over 4000 years old, this should be impossible. The only explanation is a failed chronoport. All these risks are a real threat, because at one point or another they disturb the complex fabric of time and space. Hence the Chronosphere technology is a dangerous toy to play with.