Rationalizing a Firefly - Serenity type setting

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I don't see what makes it necessary. IMO, Firefly would have worked just as well in an open cluster (the Hyades is a really good candidate; both close and dense) with a very fast STL drive (probably some gravitic pseudovelocity warp drive). Taking a couple of years to get from the core to the fringe doesn't, IMO, hurt anything.

A couple years from core to edge DOES hurt the setting - badly.

In order to have a significant, protracted war (as the unification war was) you need at most a handful of months across.

Having the STL drive be capable of crossing the "system" in a few months (say, 3, edge to edge) won't be hurt (nor even seriously impacted) by another system 2 years away - that second system will essentially not exist for most purposes, except maybe deep range expeditions. It's just too far to make matters worth involvement. (It's why most people rightly reject the idea of any STL space empire - by the time you can react, it's too late.)