Mythril

Mythril is the substance that serves as the power source required for FTL travel. Due to its valuable status as a fuel source for space-faring nations, it is fought over violently when found. The current outbreak of hostilities between the Centauri Confederacy and the Earth Federation has occurred because of a large amount of it being found within the Lambdadelta Sector.

Physical Description and Properties
Mythril is a metal that forms crystals in veins deep inside a planet's crust. It ranges in color from deep blue to a dull white, depending on the charge sustained.

Mythril's most notable feature is that it can absorb an incredible amount of charge, its crystalline structure acting as a natural battery.

Mythril is highly radioactive, and so serious shielding is necessary to protect from it. Prolonged exposure, even when shielded, can cause Mythril Sickness.

Mining
The extraction of Mythril is highly dangerous, as heavy impacts or vibrations can sometimes cause parts or even the entire vein to discharge its valuable power supply. Mining it requires delicate care and sensitive instruments- When closing in on the vein itself, they use techniques like sandblasting or melting, and carefully remove parts of the Mythril itself.

Mythril Generators
Mythril generators are specialized containment structures that allow technology to make use of Mythril's extraordinary electrical power without causing a total discharge or leak. The mythril within is liquified and cycled through tubes in the generator, allowing for heavy currents electricity to be released steadily. The generators themselves are circular, with tubes encircling and inside it filled with the liquified Mythril.

One problem with these generators is that damage to them can cause a discharge and tear a ship apart- As such, they are usually the most heavily armored part of a ship.

Mythril Drive
Mythril's most notable use is as the energy source for use in Einstein-Rosen Bridge Drives, more commonly known as Mythril Drives or a 'wormhole generator'. These drives warp space around the ship, locally bending the universe to allow it to quickly move to another location- Imagine digging a tunnel through a mountain instead of climbing over it. Of course, such 'digging' would require either a long time- The old method used a gate at either end to quicken the bending- or an extremely powerful energy source. Mythril supplies that power, allowing quick and relatively easy travel over long distances. The space traveled through while using Mythril Drive is known as the Flow.

Depleted Mythril
Depleted Mythril is the inevitable final state of Mythril- Without a charge, its color changes to a dull white and it becomes useless. Most ships eject the material, although some store it so it can be reused (occasionally as ammo, but 'depleted Mythril shells' are actually almost entirely useless- They're extremely brittle.)

'Mythril Sickness'
Prolonged exposure to Mythril Generators and Drives, even properly shielded, can cause various symptoms that are known colloquially as 'Mythril Sickness'. It is mostly identical to minor radiation poisoning, of only one or two Grays. Fatigue, weakness, nausea and rashes are the usual symptoms. Treatment is identical to treating radiation poisoning, although keeping the afflicted away from the ship's Mythril reactors is imperative. It is not usually fatal, but it can put a pilot or crewman out of commission for weeks.

Incidence of radiation poisoning via Mythril is, while not 'common', certainly not unknown, and it's well known that Frame Pilots are likely to get it more often than anyone else. Cancer from Frame piloting is still being researched, but a certain correlation is likely inevitable- This has spurred research in powering Frames, at least, by other means.