Technology in the year 2813

The following are a list of truth-bending conventions involved in the technology portrayed in the Epic of Quarace:

1) Faster-than-light travel. FTL travel is possible, but requires enormous amounts of energy. Very large vessels (i.e. military capital ships) are able to carry enough fuel (charged batteries, power plants, etc.) for one FTL round trip. Large shipping/exploration vessels, such as the explorer ship Magellan, can carry enough fuel for only one jump. Due to this large expenditure of energy, impracticality of building such large power plants on every spacefaring vessel, and the large demand for interplanetary transport, jump gates are constructed. The principle behind a jump gate is simple: Gates are constructed on either side of a desired route. When one wishes to travel between them, one gate powers up and begins to open a wormhole on the other side. This, however, creates a vortex which pulls mass backwards through the jump gate- not helpful. Therefore, the other side responds by creating the opposite effect, a gravitational field which pulls in the opposite direction. When both gates are functioning at full power, a special situation is created where a ship is neither being pushed or pulled, but the wormhole is still active. At this point, any matter may move freely between the two points.
Jump gates are often strategically contested during war, since they allow for ships smaller than capital ships to make FTL jumps. During the Great War for Peace, the jump gates around Quarace were destroyed quickly, so Terran Federation forces quickly erected a series of gates in deep space, beyond sensor range of Quarace.

2) Anti-gravity. Anti-grav technology evolved after the Great War for Peace, and can be found everywhere on Quarace. Antigrav generators work on a similar principle to jump gates, though much smaller. Jump gates work by projecting focused gravitic energy to warp the fabric of space-time. Antigrav also projects gravitic waves, out of phase with the surface of the planet, lessening the planet's pull on the object. Total phase cancellation is not to be desired- an object would be flung from the planet's atmosphere very quickly if total phase cancellation were achieved, marginalizing the amount of power needed for simple levitation.
This technology obviously has almost limitless applications, but cannot be used for non-vertical propulsion. Therefore, craft utilizing Antigrav generators are also fit with conventional systems functioning both as propulsion drives and a redundancy system in the event of Antigrav drive failure.

3) Laser guns. Every space opera needs laser guns. In the year 2813, there's still a problem with particle beams powerful enough to do significant damage over long distances: cooling. Except for onboard powerful spacefaring vessels or onboard a terrestrial defense installation, cooling these weapons becomes a problem.
In the Epic of Quarace, technology has evolved allowing for metallic projectiles to carry a static charge so powerful that the heat and shockwaves caused by static discharge upon impact can cause significant damage. A pistol weapon here has two components: one which propels a projectile conventionally (i.e. a bullet propelled by gunpowder) and one which charges the projectile upon launch, powered by a high-capacity battery. The weapon has two "clips," so to speak- the ammunition magazine and the replaceable battery.
Though weapons of this sort are commonly used in this universe, the familiar rockets and explosives are also used to full effect. Rail guns can also be found on Quarace.

Note: Power consumption. As is often the case with space opera, the technology described is vaguely plausible, yet not feasable by today's standards due to the enormous amount of energy required. In the future described here, fusion power has been brought to perfection and proliferated. Personal-use fusion reactors are available (only from the AQR, of course) and can even be found in sizes just smaller than a two-liter bottle. Fusion is a power source with enormous yield, and no further explanation is needed in this ficitonal universe. If you're wondering where the vast amounts of energy are coming from, there you have it.