From what I've read, bending space IS theoretically possible. As it stands right now, faster than light is not, HOWEVER I will grant you that our knowledge of physics is constantly changing. What seems impossible today may be very possible tomorrow.

Faster than light, but how much faster?

Building on tinyE's example, let's say that a threat appears to one of our closest colonies in Proxima b and they require assistance. To make things simpler, let's take out of the equation the difficulties of going from one star system to another (so let's assume that the distance between Sun & Proxima Centauri is constant or that they are two immovable objects) but also let's us assume that our fleet is able to reach FTL speeds in an instant, as well as be able to stop in an instant too (think of Roadrunner).

If we're able to reach speeds equal to 2⋅c, we would still need around two years to reach the colony (because distance between Sun & Proxima Centauri is ~4ly, or more than 2.6⋅10e5 AU). 4⋅c you say? That's one year give or take. In any case, unless we're able to reach speeds that would enable us to virtually teleport there instantly, the colony would be doomed anyway. And that's the problem with Star Wars or Mass Effect, where parties are able to cross the galaxy(-ies) in less time than i need to put my shoes on.

Having said that, even though i usually cringe when laws of physics are murdered in action films or games, i don't usually feel the same when similar things happen in sci-fi, although to be honest, i prefer plausability & hard sci-fi like what we saw in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Good job, thank you. :)

Warhammer 40K explained this long ago. It's quite simple really: just take a shortcut through hell. Just don't stop and ask for directions!

Really? I thought the fastest way was up your butt and to the left.

That's what people tell me whenever I ask for directions.

for some reason I'm reminded of this great simpsons quote