Sub-hyperspace

"&hellip;those of us assigned to the base heard rumors that it doesn't operate in what we'd call normal hyperspace. It fires through a hole in the continuum that it makes itself. Everybody was calling it 'sub'-hyperspace."

- Finn, discussing Starkiller Base

Sub-hyperspace was a hole in the realspace continuum in which phantom energy could travel. Unlike typical hyperspace, which moved across the galaxy, sub-hyperspace would move through the galaxy. The First Order's Starkiller Base was able to collect a form of dark energy called quintessence, transform it into phantom energy, an unleash it along a linear path through sub-hyperspace, enabling it to destroy entire star systems in real-time.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens novelization