A Shift-ship (shiftship or shift ship) is a kind of vehicles capables to travel not only through outer space but to move to other dimensions, paralel universes and the space between them, known as the Bleed.

The concept appeared first in Authority, created by Warren Ellis. The Carrier, mobile headquarters of the team, was the first shiftship known. From unknown origins, it was only said than she was a commercial vehicle to transport products beteween different earths. Other similar vehicles would appear again in the Wildstorm Universe, most notably in Authority and Planetary. Most of these shft-ships had a kind of AI, almost like a living entity and only could work with a superhuman crew.

The shift-ship technology also was known by others alien and parahumans cultures, as Sliding Albion. But in the last case,it seems than the ships themselves couldn't open their own portals but use portals created by another source.

DC integration

With the integration of Wildstorm to DC, the Shiftships became vehicles created by the Monitors (nanomachines probes from the monitors' perspective) and used by them to explore, map and mantain the optimal conditions of the multiverse. Among other characteristics, the shiftships are made of frozen music and powered by caged baby universes. An hangar of Shift-ships exists inside the Monitor' Satellite.

Shift-ships classification

• Destroyer – The most feared of all Monitor vessels – these massive hell-machines are capable of sterilizing entire universes with self-evolving Reality-Blitzing missiles, Armageddon Activators and Contagion Troops. Used by Monitors to disinfect fatally contaminated continua.
• Carrier – Carriers are large, fast, multipurpose vehicles, used by Monitors to convey communications, materials and equipment between the Worlds of the Orrery.
• Tanker – Huge Tankers are sent out to collect precious Bleed and other materials from the Orrery and return it to the Monitor Sphere. A string of “seed gravitational singularities” anchors solids, liquids and gases behind them, resembling small planets or suns.
• Hunter – Heavily armed rapid stealth killers, used to protect Tankers from mega-fauna indigenous to Orrery Bleedspace and to contain and destroy outbreaks of contamination.
• Explorer – Swift scientific probes designed to recover data. What they lack in offensive capabilities, Explorers make up for with state-of-the-art empathic navigation, self-aware chameleon camouflage and faster-than-thought engines.

Known Shift-ships

• The Carrier: (A carrier type ship) Mobile headquarters of the Authority.
• Henry Bedix' Carrier: Another carrier type ship owned by Henry Bendix and with his own crew.
• The Throne: (A carrier type ship) Trans-dimensional vessel of a previous incarnation of The Monarchy.
• Ultima Thule: (Explorer type ship) Zillo Valla and Nix Uotan's explorer. Used in Final crisis as vehicle of the Multiverse Supermen then later Justice Incarnate
• Echo of Midnight: (Destroyer type ship). Stopped by Superman and Ultraman. It crashed temporally in earth-51 before launch a massive attack against the limbo.
• Carrier Arks: (Carrier type ship) Created by The DEO in order to explore the multiverse.